The Morning After
by sweetliar327
Summary: Nick and Andy begin their new relationship and deal with the fallout. Post 4x09. Formerly a one shot, now a multi-chapter fic, will not closely follow season 4 but will incorporate some elements.
1. Chapter 1

**My first O/S! And first Rookie Blue FanFic but after 4x09, I couldn't get this out of my head! It just begged to be written! **** Long A/N afterwards. I own nothing. ;)**

Nick Collins woke with a smile on his face. It was early, way early. One of many disgusting habits he'd picked up from the Army. However, today it wasn't something he particularly minded. He was wrapped in the warmth that was his partner, now in more ways than one. Andy McNally. Brushing a kiss over the top of her head, he eased out from under her careful not to wake her. She stirred momentarily but he knew from their undercover experience together that she didn't wake easily. He took a minute to appreciate the sight of her curled up in bed, the innocence of her face and how peaceful she looked. He wasn't going to wake her, especially not after the day she'd had yesterday. He'd make her breakfast and if the smell of eggs and coffee didn't wake her, well then he'd just have to improvise. The thought put a stupid grin on his face.

He slipped out of her bedroom silently, closing the door behind him softly. The search for his boxers was his first priority. He found them a few minutes later, underneath the coffee table. His second order of business? Cleaning up the mess they had made the night before. This wasn't his first visit to her apartment. He knew where her broom and dustpan were kept. He swept up the remnants of her lamp, already planning on buying her a new one. Though technically, she'd been the one to throw his jacket at it, knocking it off of the side table. He grinned again. It was something he couldn't seem to stop doing; smiling, grinning. It had everything to do with the woman curled up in bed in the room just behind that door. He used to think that he had a problem with commitment and now he wasn't so sure. It might have just been the woman he was with, because the more time he spent with Andy the more he could picture forever. With her.

After folding her clothes neatly in a pile and placing them on the couch, he made his way into the kitchen. He opened her refrigerator and groaned at the empty shelves. No milk, no eggs, no tomatoes. Well, there went cooking her breakfast. He'd really been looking forward to cooking her the omelets he'd gotten so good at making while undercover. After only a few tries he'd perfected them and she'd loved them. He shut the refrigerator and opened her cupboard where she kept the coffee. She _did _have that at least. He turned, leaning against the counter.

He had three options. One, he could make coffee, wake her up. The smell _always_ worked. He'd learned that trick for their early morning runs undercover. _But_ coffee and no breakfast made for a grumpy McNally. He'd learned that the hard way. Two, he could leave her a note, run out and get breakfast and coffee. There was a bakery right around the corner. She'd never even know he was gone. He knew exactly what she liked from there; she talked about it all the time. And he was a good listener. Three, he could go in there, wake her up the _fun_ way and _then _they could go get breakfast.

He _really_ liked option three. Problem was he also knew his partner. And Andy McNally needed breakfast in order to be a nice, productive citizen. Plus, if he brought her coffee and food, it left plenty of time for other activities until their next meal. He was grinning again while he got dressed, pulling on yesterday's jeans and shirt. He found a notepad sitting on top of her desk and a pen. He wrote her a quick note, left it by her pillow.

**_You won't even read this because you sleep like the dead. Ran out to grab breakfast. I'll be right back._**

**_ -N_**

He locked up using the spare key she had given him a while back when they had been undercover. They had made a pact. If anything had happened to either of them while undercover they didn't want a stranger cleaning out the other's apartment. And while yes, they both had friends in the department they had both grown closer in the six months undercover than they had thought possible. They had thought it better that way. The pact had scared him then and it scared him even more now.

He couldn't lose her. Though nothing had been as scary as that final day of undercover, that day in the warehouse, when Von had ordered him to shoot her and pressed the gun into his hand. He closed his eyes, forced it out of his head, compartmentalized. It wasn't something he liked to think about. It still gave him nightmares.

Thirty minutes later, he was whistling a happy little tune on his way back up to her apartment, bag from the bakery in his hand, coffee cup holder dangling from his fingers with both of their coffees and digging in his jacket pocket for her keys when he spotted the man standing in front of her door, hand raised to knock. His heart stopped as he recognized him.

"Swarek." Nick said gruffly.

Sam turned around, mid knock to see Nick standing behind him. Sam's eyes turned cold, as the cop in him took in Nick's appearance. The day old scruff on his face, though not altogether uncommon, but the jeans, the shirt and sweatshirt however were all the same. And though Sam had been a detective for six months now, it didn't take a detective to put two and two together. Nick raised his chin, knew he was being assessed, instantly falling into a militant stance. Habit. This was quickly becoming a pissing match, though he didn't want it to be. Sam Swarek had had his chance. He had blown it. He'd even when they got back from their undercover op had the opportunity for a second. He'd blown that too. Andy had thought he'd wait, though Nick had done his best to try to get her to move past it, move past _him. _But she hadn't. Not then. But she had now.

"Collins." Sam sneered. Sam looked down at the bag in Nick's hand, appraising the coffee and the bakery bag. He nodded, clenching his jaw. "I just wanted to check on her. After yesterday…" He dropped off. Sam must have swallowed his pride. Nick recognized it. Too little too late, he thought.

"She's fine." Nick said.

Sam said nothing for a moment, taking in the situation as only an ex could. He rolled his eyes at Nick, "You see Collins, when she says she's fine what she really means is…"

Nick cut him off, knowing what he was trying to do. "I know what she really means. She's my partner, Sam. I know her very well. She hasn't said she was fine. She's okay. She's dealing." Nick replied. When Sam continued to stare at him the wind knocked out of his sails a bit, Nick offered, "I'll tell her you stopped by." And he would. Nick cared about her that much, he loved her. It would be awkward as hell, but when had that ever stopped him from having a conversation with her?

Finally pulling his keys out of his jacket pocket, Nick filtered them through his fingers until he settled on her key. He watched the light in Sam's eyes fade even more as Sam recognized that Nick had his own key and if Nick hadn't been Andy's break up buddy, if he hadn't gotten into the car that fateful day and watched her wipe away tears, if he hadn't listened to story after story after story of how Sam never told her how he felt until she was holding a grenade in her hands, if he hadn't overheard her cry in their poor little excuse of an undercover apartment when she thought he couldn't hear her he'd almost feel sorry for the guy. But he didn't. And Sam had a girlfriend. He needed to go home to her, to Marlo.

Nick stepped around Sam, inserted his key into the lock and stepped inside. "Coffee's getting cold." He said politely. "See you tomorrow, Swarek." He shut the door behind him.

The apartment was quiet when he entered, but he wasn't surprised. McNally was still asleep. He pulled off his boots, took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack that didn't quite stand up straight anymore though he'd tried his damnedest to fix it. He slipped into her bedroom, coffee and beignets in hand. Perching on the side of the bed, he set the bag of beignets on her nightstand and took her coffee out of the cup holder. Taking the top off, he waved the cup in front of her face a few times.

She stirred slowly, stretched and let out a low moan. He grinned, worked every time. She opened one eye tentatively first. "Morning." She whispered with a soft smile.

"Good morning, gorgeous." He whispered back.

She closed her eyes and snuggled back into her pillow. "Do I smell breakfast?"

"You do. You're lucky I like you, McNally." He brushed a strand of hair off of her face, tucked it behind her ear. "Your fridge is empty, so I ran down to the bakery. Got you a beignet." Both eyes opened this time. They flew to his.

"You went down to the bakery for me?" She sounded incredulous. He'd told her twice how he'd felt about her. She still didn't realize that he listened to everything she said? That he was crazy about her?

"I did. Feel free to show me your appreciation." She laughed and sat up, tugging the sheet with her to cover herself.

She smacked him lightly in the chest. "Shut up, Collins."

"Well, I'm glad to see nothing's changed." He laughed as he handed her the cup of coffee. Two creams, two sugars. She took it gracefully and scooted over so he could slide in next to her. She sipped it delicately.

"Mmm. Perfect." She moaned.

He chuckled. "I can't help it. Good genes." She smacked him again.

They reclined against the headboard and ate their beignets together laughing as the powdered sugar got everywhere. When they were finished he took her empty coffee cup from her, placed it on her nightstand.

Nick watched her face carefully. "So I promised I'd tell you," he began, "when I got back from the bakery, Swarek was here to see you. Said he stopped by to see if you were okay after yesterday."

Andy kept her eyes on his, watching him too. She nodded.

"What did you say?" She asked her voice surprisingly neutral.

"I told him that you were okay." Nick replied. "And that I'd tell you he stopped by."

Andy nodded again. "I _am_ okay." She took a second, smiled. "I think that has a lot to do with you. You kind of snuck up on me, Collins." She leaned forward. She brushed her powdered lips over his slowly, taking him by surprise as she dropped the bed sheet. It was much easier to get his shirt off this time, there was less awkwardness. Though even last night, with the awkwardness, it was still just right. Still perfect. They knew each other intimately now though. He deepened the kiss quickly, sliding down the headboard and pulling her with him. She smiled wickedly at him as she slid her leg over his and laughed when he grinned back at her. She framed his face with her hands.

Nipping his bottom lip with her teeth she placed kisses along his jaw, until she got to his ear. She whispered teasingly in it. "In case you were wondering, this is my way of showing you my appreciation for breakfast." He chuckled for a moment until she found the spot just below his ear that she'd discovered last night. It drove him absolutely crazy. He couldn't take it anymore. He flipped her onto her back, taking over. She reached down to unbutton his jeans; unzipping them quickly and helping him shuck them, pushing them over his hips. Soon there was no more laughing, no more giggling but plenty of whispers, sighs and throaty moans.

Afterwards, she lay snuggled up to him, as close as possible. He played with the strands of her hair that teased her back. She shivered in his arms. "It tickles." She murmured against his chest. He kissed her forehead and rubbed her back instead, wanting and needing the contact. She sighed contentedly.

"What would you like to do today?" He asked. She shrugged, tracing her finger over the ridges of his abs. She had secretly always liked when Von had his famous pool parties. It meant they wore bathing suits and though Nick rarely went in the pool, he had occasionally taken off his shirt and she could covertly admire his muscles from behind her sunglasses. Nick tipped her chin with his finger. "You're blushing." He said with a small smile. "What is it?" He asked.

She shook her head, _way_ too embarrassed to share. "It's nothing."

"Andy." He whispered. "You can tell me."

She laughed. "I really can't."

He forced her to meet his eyes. "I told you I thought you were _magical_, McNally."

She bit her lip. "I used to like Von's pool parties." She said in such a rush it came out sounding like one word. Nick nodded, holding back his smile. Though he couldn't say he wasn't confused. He knew there was more to this story.

"Because…" He said, determined to drag it out of her.

She covered her face with her hands. He reached out to gently pull them away. She closed her eyes. "Because sometimes…." She dropped her voice low. "You'd take your shirt off." His grin took up his whole face. If he thought she was blushing before, it was nothing compared to the shade her face was now. She cracked an eye open to peek at his face. He wiped the grin off of his face immediately. She closed her eyes again. "Oh my God. I can't believe I just…"

"McNally." She tried to get out of bed.

"Nick. Shut up…. just forget I said anything." She muttered.

"McNally." He reached for her hands. He couldn't laugh at her right now. He _wouldn't._ No matter how cute it was that she was embarrassed.

"You don't have to…."

"Andy!" She turned to face him. "Look at me." She opened her eyes, her face still bright red. "Those pool parties." He said, his face completely composed. "You wore bikinis." She stared at him. Okay, so she didn't get it. "I can describe each one." Still staring. "In detail." Her eyes softened. "_Explicit_ detail."

"You're a cop. You're supposed to notice details." He fought to not roll his eyes. Jesus, she was stubborn and thick headed.

He smiled softly at her, leaned in to kiss her soundly and also to shut her up. When he finally pulled back, he leaned his forehead against hers, opened his eyes. "I do notice details because I'm a cop. But when it comes to you? I tend to notice a_ lot_ more." It took a few seconds, but then her eyes finally widened.

_There _it was. She got it. "So why didn't you say something then?" She asked.

"Why didn't _you?" _He asked.

"Gail." She whispered.

"She was my reason too. Even though I thought she'd left for Europe, we left things unresolved. I didn't want to taint a relationship with you with an unfinished relationship with someone else." She nodded.

"That's a pretty good reason there, Collins."

"There's more to me than just my good looks, McNally." He laughed.

"You don't say." She replied. He kissed her softly, his lips lingering. Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. He stretched his arm, reaching out to hand it to her. "It's from Chris." She said, swiping her finger across the screen. "He wants to know if he can come over with Christian. He wants to apologize." She turned to look at Nick. The look of indecision was clear in her eyes. She wasn't sure what to do. She was glad that Christian had been found but she clearly still felt guilty about yesterday. Nick took the phone from her, set it down on the bed. He cupped her face in his hands.

"Andy. If Gene Mackenzie wouldn't have kidnapped Christian when he did yesterday he would have found another opportunity when someone else was watching him. There was an emergency. We're cops. You locked him in the car; you were only gone for a minute. You weren't negligent. Chris has calmed down, he's realized that. You don't have to have them over if you don't want to. But I think you should." She nodded, and he could tell that she still didn't believe what he was saying. But she wanted to apologize, too, now that emotions and tempers weren't running so high. And so she would invite them over.

Her voice was small when she asked, "Will you stay with me?"

He nodded. "Of course I will." He pointed at her phone. "Make sure it's okay with Chris, though." He stood as she quickly sent a reply text. He put his hands on his hips and smirked when she looked up and grinned at him. "Want to join me in the shower?" Her answer was a crooked smirk. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "Water conservation." He said with a shrug. She giggled, both of them carefree as they cleaned up.

As they were getting dressed a good hour later to go shopping for food, he looked down at his clothes. "We might need to swing by my apartment first. Diaz _is _a cop. He'll notice. And he'll tell Gail."

She nodded. "That might be a good idea. Gail needs to be the first to know." Nick sat on the edge of her bed to pull on his boots. Andy stood in front of him, hands on her hips. "I want to be the one to tell her."

Nick inhaled sharply, made a face. "We can do it together."

"I need to be the one to tell her, Nick."

"Andy, she thinks something happened with us undercover. She knows that I…its best if we both… It's why she slept…" _Hell._ He hadn't told anybody that. And he certainly didn't want Andy to know. He sighed.

"She _cheated_ on you?"

"Yes." He said softly. "I didn't want you to find out. It's not relevant. It is what it is."

"It _is _relevant. I can't believe she did that to you."

"I haven't been in love with Gail in a long time. I moved on a while ago." He admitted sadly. "I was in the relationship for the wrong reasons, she sensed my distance and I should have broken it off when we came back. It was my fault for not doing exactly that." He shook his head at Andy, who stepped up to him and squatted between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her. "But I _really _don't want to talk about Gail and me. If you want to tell her by yourself, then God be with you." He sighed, then chuckled. "Just make sure she's not armed when you tell her. And even if she's not that you're wearing your bulletproof vest in case she's got a backup. Please? For me?"

Andy laughed, and gave him a quick kiss. "I'll be sure to do that. C'mon. Chris said they'll be here around noon." Nick glanced over his shoulder at her alarm clock. It was already ten thirty and they still had to swing by his place and then go by the store. Andy stood up and tugged on his hand.

Sure they still had a lot of things to work out, still had people to tell, and Andy hadn't _really_ told him how she felt yet. But she'd showed him. He knew she cared. And for right now? That was enough. She wasn't going to rush in. She'd been burned too many times. With Luke. With Sam. She wasn't going to do it again. And that was okay with him. Because he wasn't going anywhere. He was in this. For the long haul. Yep, Andy McNally was it for him.

"Hey soldier boy! You coming or what?" He snapped out of it with a grin and hurried after her.

"Don't get your panties in a wad, McNally. I'm coming!"

She turned, threw out her arms in a challenge, and nodded her head. "What makes you think you know anything about my panties, Collins?"

He winked. "I know more than you think, McNally. More than you think." He laughed, throwing his arm around her shoulders as they locked up and strolled out of the apartment together.

**God, I love them. I have watched the ending scene to 4x09 an embarrassing amount of times. Honestly, I couldn't even begin to tell you how many b/c I've lost count. It's sad. Pathetic, even. Also, if you haven't already. TheJovanaJ on YouTube has some AMAZING videos that get me from episode to episode every week. The latest one is Come and Get it (my FAVORITE). LOVE it. And then there's Soldier and Until I Met You…they're all amazing. Seriously. Check them out. **

**I doubt seriously that this will be my only Rookie Blue FanFic. Unless you guys hate this, of course. **** But….I am currently waist deep in another FanFic for The Vampire Diaries, so….I doubt that it'll be an all the time thing….maybe the occasional one shot, especially if things keep going my way this season….though based on the Season 4 Sneak Peek I'm not sure how things are going to go. Feel free to let me know if you liked this and if you're like me and have devoted a ridiculous amount of time to YouTube and have rewatched their scenes over and over and OVER. My husband thinks I'm insane. (But I'm okay with that…he knew when he married me!)**

**Also…it's okay if you're a McSwarek fan…I still like Sam, believe it or not. (I'm a recent convert…somewhere around 3x11 is when I started shipping McCollins!) I just think Sam had his chance. Now it's Nick's turn. Andy and Nick are just so easy. And that's how relationships should be. Things with Sam were always like pulling teeth. And Nick is so honest and open with her. Nick is what she needs….for right now at least. It could change…we'll see. **** Plus…all those muscles?! Gah! **

**Leave me your thoughts! I reply to all reviews…except to guest ones…obviously! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Few things! So…I've been reading a lot of the McCollins FanFic's…and there seem to be a lot of recurring phrases, thoughts, themes, quotes…stuff like that. It's bound to happen, especially if we're all reading each other's stuff. If anything in any of my chapters feels like a copy of your work, please understand it's not intentional… I'm doing this for fun, but if you feel there is a problem please let me know via PM and we can discuss it! Ok? Thanks! **

**Second? You guys are so awesome! The response I got from this was absolutely amazing! I was NOT expecting it! I wrote that first chapter/one shot because it was burning in my brain and I had to get it out and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I hope you enjoy this just as much! I am officially un-completing The Morning After. Turning it into a multi chapter FanFic! Somehow I don't think you guys will mind! ;) **

**Third! Have you guys seen the second sneak peek for 4x11? Couldn't find it on YouTube but…**

**www*spoilertv*com/2013/08/rookie-blue-episode-411- deception-sneak_24*html**

**Just replace the *'s with .'s :D Watch. It. Eeek! **

**Any mistakes are mine. And I own nothing.**

Andy drifted into his bedroom, admiring the maleness of it with a new keen eye. She had been here to his apartment before too, had been over plenty of times. But now things had changed. If she _really_ wanted to, she could crawl into his bed, burrow into his sheets and make herself comfortable. He wouldn't give a damn. He'd just smirk at her and probably join her just as quickly. The thought made her smile.

She sighed, took a deep breath. It smelled like him in here. She had missed that smell. She hadn't realized it until now, but being here in his home after living separate from him for the past several months, it just clicked. But it was more than just his smell. She had missed _him_, missed Nick. More than she cared to admit. She had thought that ache that she'd been feeling since being home, being back at 15 Division that it was all Sam. She thought Sam had tripped her brain all up. And he had, but deep down somewhere in the dark recesses of her messed up brain, she knew now that part of that ache was from missing Nick and missing him something fierce. Working together, living together, sharing a teeny tiny space for six solid months had formed an unbreakable bond, and returning back to 15 hadn't broken that bond but it had definitely stretched it out, stretched it thin. She was happy to have it back, stronger than ever it seemed.

He had blown her away last night with his confession. She hadn't been prepared for it. Not at all. When she had rounded the corner and seen him standing by her door, her heart had skipped a beat. She'd been relieved to see a friendly face after such a long and trying day and then when he'd stood there and told her that she was right about 'them,' well, she was pretty sure she'd hadn't been that disappointed in a long time. And she hadn't been prepared to be disappointed. Funny thing was, a week ago? She would have never even considered herself and Nick a 'them', an 'us', a 'we.' Sure he was always the first person she wanted to talk to, the first person she wanted to share things with, the person that knew how to make her smile when she was having the worst sort of day, the person who could predict her mood just by a quick look at her eyes, the person who could sense what she needed before even she knew, but she had never even considered him as a viable love interest, never looked at him that way until the day of the wedding.

He was Gail's. Since the day he'd walked into 15, Gail had staked her claim. He may as well have had 'UNAVAILABLE' stamped on his forehead. And there was a code. Andy still felt guilty about that, still felt guilty about breaking the code. But Gail had _cheated_ on him. Andy hadn't known that beforehand. She knew it now. Not only was sleeping with Nick against the girl code, but she and Nick were friends. Good friends. _Best _friends. He was what kept her going some days while undercover. He'd push her, get her out of bed, force her to go running with him, cheer her up, make her smile and forget about the loser who he'd dubbed 'he who shall not be named.' She hadn't wanted to lose that friendship.

She had stressed over these things for _days_ after his confession_._ She had made sure that Oliver gave them different partners during shift. She needed space, not that she didn't want to see him, because she did see him during Parade and sometimes at the Penny after shift for a quick beer but always with the group, never just the two of them. They still talked, still texted. She just needed time to think. Nick understood that. Because Nick understood _her._ And he gave her the space that she'd asked for.

So for him to tell her that she was right, that all of those things, his recent breakup with Gail, that they were good friends and that they didn't want to jeopardize that, that they worked together, but that he didn't _care_, because she, Andy McNally was _worth_ it? It changed everything. That honesty. That openness. It was all Nick. He had _never _not been honest with her. He always told her straight. He'd told her once, okay twice undercover when she was being a pain in the ass, and thinking back with a grin, okay maybe she _had _been.

After revealing all of this, confessing all of those things he'd just walked away, leaving her standing there, her jaw proverbially on the ground. But then he'd stopped. And her heart had sped up. He walked back and her decision was made. This was _Nick._ _He _was worth it too, worth the risk. Worth breaking the code. She wouldn't just do that for any guy. Not for just a hookup. But this was Nick. There was something about him. They had a connection. It went deeper than just a physical attraction. She could maybe see him in a forever kind of way. So she'd gone for it. She'd kissed him. And sure, they'd kissed before. But all that had been for show, play acting. This had been _real. _That connection, she thought they'd had? It was more. That sparks malarkey people spoke of; Andy had always written it off as bullshit. She wouldn't write it off anymore, no not with Nick. He'd definitely been holding back during their undercover kisses. And so had she. This time there had been no holding back.

Trailing her finger down his dresser, she dropped down onto the foot of his bed, crossed her legs out in front of her and leaned back. She angled her head so she could peek into his closet as he yanked his shirt over his head and chucked it into a clothes hamper. Watching the play of his muscles, she couldn't deny the flutter in her stomach and lower as he snagged a button up off of a hanger and pulled it on. He slowly buttoned it up, his head down as he did so. His delectable chest was disappearing before her eyes and she scrunched her face up, frowned. When he finally looked up, he caught her looking at him.

"Get ahold of yourself, McNally." He said with a straight face.

Andy laughed and shook her head, blushing just a little. "Rather get ahold of you."

His mouth quirked into a smile. "Oh, that can be arranged…Later." He walked over, leaned down and planted a firm kiss on her soft lips. "We have places to be." He reached for both of her hands, tugged her up off of his bed and into his arms. "C'mon Andy. This was just a pit stop." She lifted her chin for another kiss. He obliged willingly. "You're insatiable." He murmured.

"Hello pot." She replied with a smile. "Meet kettle." He shrugged a shoulder, grinned down at her. He reached around her, picked his jacket up off of the bed. After tugging it on, he slipped his fingers through hers and led the way back through his apartment, turning lights off as he went.

She trailed him mindlessly, loving how normal this felt. How right. How perfect. They had essentially lived this life while undercover, and while it had been pretense, a role, even then it had still felt right. She squeezed his hand and he smiled at her over his shoulder. It was one of those sweet, heartwarming, butterfly- inducing kind of smiles.

When he moved to snatch his keys off of the key holder beside the door, Andy placed her hand on his arm stopping him. "What?" He asked, frowning slightly. "Did we forget something?" He turned, looking back over his apartment. She shook her head, no. Smiling sheepishly, she glanced at the other set of keys hanging there. The ones he so rarely used. "You want to take the bike?" He grinned as her smile spread. "Andy, it's freezing outside." He turned, rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "You're not dressed for it." She didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. Her bottom lip slid out in a pout. "That's adorable," he laughed. "It won't work on me, though." Rising to the challenge, she pushed her lip out a bit more and looked at him from under her lashes. She batted them at him a couple of times and he sighed. "Alright look. Saturday it's supposed to be nice, much warmer. We'll go for a ride in the country." He let go of her hand, reached up and cupped her face. "Okay?" She continued to bat her eyelashes, attempting to guilt him into it. He laughed. "And what are we supposed to put your groceries in, huh McNally?"

Damnit. The man had a point. She huffed, finally relenting. "Fine. This weekend. You promise?"

He nodded, leaned down and rested his forehead against hers. He smiled softly at her before brushing his lips over hers once then twice. "Promise."

Andy sighed as Nick grabbed his truck keys, leaving the bike keys where they were. Nick laughed silently, his shoulder shaking though he kept his back to her. He knew better. She smacked him lightly and he reached for her hand after locking his door. They strolled to his truck holding hands.

* * *

Chris held his mug of coffee in his unbandaged hand and stared at his non biological son. Andy sat on the couch next to him while Nick played with Christian and his 'new' Baby Puppy courtesy of Chloe on the floor. It would be the cutest thing on the face of the planet if the whole situation wasn't so awkward. Andy swallowed past the lump in her throat. "I don't know what to do." He whispered.

Andy shook her head, reached out ready to place her hand on his arm. She hesitated at the last minute. Chris turned to look at her and there were tears in his eyes. "I can't tell you what to do, Chris. I wish I could help." And she did. She really wished she could. Chris had really been there for her when she and Swarek had broken up. He'd kept her busy, kept her mind off of things. Until Nick had taken over as her break up buddy. Chris was a good friend and she had missed him when he'd transferred.

"Are you going to transfer back?" She asked softly.

"Thinking about it." He said, his sipped his coffee and set his mug down on the table in front of him. "Denise and I are going to have a long discussion tonight after Christian goes to bed. Today I just….I needed to get out of the apartment. Needed to get away from her for a while. I wanted to come see you. Apologize." He sighed, rubbed his hand over his face, held it there. Andy didn't hesitate this time, she reached for his hand, squeezed it. She looked over at Nick, somewhat distressed. Nick was distracting Christian brilliantly, but had a heartbroken look on his face for their mutual friend. His eyes flitted to Andy. He gave her a sad, encouraging smile. "I'm going to talk to Frank when he comes back from his honeymoon." Chris said, finally looking up. There was no mistaking his red rimmed eyes. Andy shook her head.

"This is all my fault." She whispered brokenly. Nick's head shot up, hearing the tremble in her voice. He shifted, like he was ready to stand up, move towards her. She held out her hand, to keep him where he was.

"Andy…" Chris began.

"No, Chris. I left him in the car and…" She covered her face. "I can't ever begin to...and then I ruined your relationship with Denise…and you found out about Christian…"

"Andy stop." Chris said firmly, then lowered his voice. "Trace let me read the interview transcripts. Gene had every intention of taking him; it's why he followed us to the city. He knew I wasn't the biological father. He wanted Denise's attention and he got it. You just happened to be the unlucky person to be watching Christian when he decided to take him. I'm sorry I found out the way I did, but not that I found out. And I don't want to lose Christian…" Chris choked on his name, "and I don't know what's going to happen now, but I'm better off knowing." He sighed and pulled Andy into a hug, whispered into her hair. "I just wanted you to know that I don't hate you. I'm sorry for all the things I said to you yesterday." He held her close for a while and Andy felt the tears coursing down her face. When he finally let her go, Andy wiped her face with her hands. Nick was watching her closely, making the occasional car noises while he and Christian played with some Matchbox cars that Leo had left over the last time he and Traci were over. Christian giggled at Nick and Andy gave him a watery smile, nodded reassuringly. Chris turned to Nick. "I'm sorry for yelling at you yesterday too."

"Don't even worry about it, Diaz." Nick shook his head. "You were much more composed than I would have been."

Chris nodded, glanced at Andy, then back at Nick. "I know you two are close, I just wasn't expecting you to be at the park with her and it threw me." Nick looked at Andy and smiled softly.

"It was a last minute decision." Andy remarked.

Diaz looked back and forth between the two for a moment before picking his coffee back up. "We should probably be going." He murmured.

Christian protested dramatically, apparently enjoying getting to spend more time with Nick. Andy smiled at him. "We'll get together again soon, okay buddy?" Andy slipped off of the couch to join Nick and Christian on the floor for a minute while Chris went to put his cup in the sink. Andy pulled Christian into her lap and held him there. Nick watched her fondly and Andy paid him no attention as she ran her hands gently over the little boy's soft hair. She had no idea what she would have done if something horrible would have happened to him. Tears trekked down her face again and before Nick could reach over and completely give them away, Andy reached up herself to wipe them off. She forced a laugh and hugged Christian tight. "I'm so sorry." She whispered into his ear. He hugged her back when Chris called his name.

"Coming daddy." He said drudgingly as he gave Nick a high five goodbye and a brief hug. He made sure to grab Baby Puppy. Andy watched Chris' face fall as Christian called him daddy and her heart broke for her friend. Pushing herself up off the floor, she made her way over to the door to walk them out. She gave Chris a big hug at the door.

"Call me? If you need anything. Or want to talk? Or just yell at me some more?" She said as she held the door open for them. Nick stood just behind her. She felt his solid presence like the pillar of strength that he was. Chris nodded, leaned in and kissed Andy's cheek.

"Thanks, Andy. Say bye Christian." Chris said as he took Christian's hand. Christian turned and waved bye to Andy and then grinned his big toothy grin at Nick. Nick grinned right back at him.

"Bye Christian." Nick waved. "Later, Diaz."

"See you, Collins." Chris gave Andy one more scrutinizing look that Andy wasn't quite sure how to interpret as she shut the door and turned to face Nick. She sniffled, leaning back against the door. She blew out a big breath, hoping to keep her tears at bay. She failed, the tears were threatening to fall again she rubbed her hands over her face. Nick opened his arms. She took three steps, and buried her face in his neck. He held her there for the longest time. He never once complained. It wasn't his style. He would be whatever she needed. Whenever she needed it.

When she finally composed herself, she stepped away and he loosened his hold on her. He let her go, because she was independent and did things her own way. She sought help when she wanted it and only then would she accept it. It was a pride thing. She was a McNally. It was in her blood. She looked around her apartment and everything in it seemed to remind her of the past twenty four hours, and Christian. And she knew that right now, she didn't want to be here. Didn't want to be cooped up here for the rest of the day. She turned on her heel to face Nick who was watching her with a cautious eye, not worried, just cautious. "You want to get out of here?" She asked suddenly.

He shrugged nonchalantly, completely on board with whatever she wanted to do. "Sure, why not?"

She nodded, grabbed her jacket. "Yeah." She said as she reached for her purse, made sure her cell phone was in there and walked to the door. "I'm pretty sure I need a new lamp." His grin was contagious as they exited the apartment.

"A new lamp?" Nick asked as she locked up, playing dumb.

"Yeah. Some crazed sex maniac knocked it over last night trying to get this girl's shirt off." She replied as they walked down the hallway.

"Whoa." Nick held up his hands, suddenly defensive. "Wait a minute. That's not how I remember it."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, ma'am. If I recall correctly…and I _do_. _You, _Officer McNally are the one who broke the lamp, when you threw _my _jacket at it. I also seem to recall you saying and I quote, 'I don't care' when this happened as well. Now, I will admit to being the one who bumped into the coat rack, that was definitely my fault, but that lamp was all you. However the," he held up his hands to make the quotation marks, "'sex crazed maniac' you are referring to would be yourself, _ma'am_." He finished with a fake stern look on his face, working hard to suppress his grin.

"Thank you, Officer Collins. It's a shame, though." Andy said, shaking her head as she walked away from him, leaving him behind.

"You're welcome." He replied, then frowned. "What's a shame?"

"I was going to ask you to reenact the scene, but you gave such a detailed account I'm afraid my memory's been restored. I'll need no such reenactment now." Andy pressed the button for the elevator.

Nick hurried after her. "Come to think of it, yesterday was a _really _long day…" Andy's laughter could be heard throughout the building.

**There was so much more I could have added to this chapter but then it would have been super long and I REALLY need to finish up my chapter for my other fic so I left it off here…but I have plenty of goodies ready for the next one! And I wanted to fit in Andy's thought processes and a little bit of Nick and Christian, because how freaking adorable were they?! And however stoked I am for next week's episode based on the sneak preview above I'm dreading the finale based on what little spoilers I've managed to hear! Also…Sam's confession? LOVED it…but I can't help but feel like it's too little too late! AND…he still has a girlfriend…AND….what kind of person would Andy be if she just hopped right back on board the Sam train (granted things are still 'casual' with Nick) BUT 1. girlfriend and 2. LOTS of**** issues to work out. So…to sum up, lol I'm not completely anti-McSwarek. I just hate to see Nick get his heart broken and I have a feeling that's exactly what's about to happen. : (** **Anyone else feel the same? Good news is? It won't get broken in here! :) **

**Didn't mean to go off on a tangent there! Haha…should post another chapter in a week or so! Feel free to review! ; ) **


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delay in the update…I needed to update my other FanFic before I added this chapter…hope you like it! **

**O. . Who else is freaked out that Nick writing in his vest is awfully foreboding? Or that it's going to force his hand and freak Andy out. And who desperately wants to know what he wrote to Andy? B/c lets face it. Loved ones? Who else does Nick love? :D Although it could be a prayer….but c'mon! It's totally something to Andy!**

**Any mistakes are mine! Enjoy! **

"What do you think of this one?" She asked. Nick turned, cocked his head and pretended to assess it with a thoughtful eye. He brought his finger to his lips, tapped it a few times, nodded critically.

"It's a lamp." He said with a shrug. She glared and if looks could kill, he would have been a dead man six lamps ago. He laughed. "I came with you to keep you company. Not for my decorating expertise."

"You're lucky you're hot." She muttered under her breath as she walked away from him to look at more lamps.

"I tell myself that daily." He replied with a grin, hoping to drag a smile out of her. The visit from Chris had really done a number on her. And while it had been good for them both to clear the air and for Andy to see Christian and Chris outside of 15, it had been hard on her too. She looked over her shoulder, her mouth turned up in a smirk. Mission accomplished.

"I bet you do." She quipped, and then resumed her search for her new lamp. He really didn't know it was going to be this difficult to pick out a lamp. He strolled through the aisles, pausing to look at various lamps but having no idea what he was really looking at. This was so not his thing. But that was okay. Because the woman he was with _was. _

He stopped in front of one. It was nice. "Hey, McNally!" He called out. She was a few feet away, but she turned around and looked back in his direction. "How about this one?"

She frowned at him. "Seriously?"

He froze. Okay. What the hell had he done wrong? He looked back at the lamp; it looked like a perfectly nice lamp. "What? What's wrong with this one?"

"That was the first one we looked at!" She told him, though it sounded more like a scolding. "You told me it was boring!"Huh. He supposed he had. Nick held back his laugh, and backed away slowly.

"Did I say that?" He made a face. There was that glare again. He couldn't contain his laughter any longer, he let loose and dashed around the aisle before she could get him. "Oh, come on McNally! It's a lamp! Just pick one and let's go grab something to eat!" With an aisle safely in between them, Nick smiled sweetly at her. "I was just kidding with you on the last one. Well, the last one _before_ the last one. I did like it. For a_ lamp_." She continued to glare at him, though he could see her eyes. Her oh so telling eyes. He knew just by looking at them that she wasn't mad, in fact she loved the banter. Her cell phone rang in her purse and without taking her eyes off of him; she reached in and answered it.

She held it up to her ear. "McNally." Nick resisted the urge to mess with her further, especially since she was getting a kick out of it. He watched her eyes change. They darkened instantly. His grin faded just as quickly. Only one person could affect her that way that fast. Sam Swarek. What the hell did he want? Probably checking to see if he had relayed the message this morning. Nick gripped the metal shelf in front of him, held onto it. To Andy's credit, she kept her eyes on his. She didn't turn and walk away to keep the conversation private, she didn't avert her eyes, she kept Nick a part of it in a way. That's how he knew she really was invested in whatever this is. "He told me." _Damn right I did_, he thought. "I'm okay." She nodded along with the conversation and Nick knew that was a habit of hers, one he found adorable. Even with phone conversations she tended to nod along, knowing the person on the other end couldn't see what she was doing. Nick liked how this conversation was going so far. Andy was giving short, clipped answers. It was petty of him to think that way, but Swarek deserved it. "Out shopping." Nick narrowed his eyes. That wasn't any of his business. He didn't need to know what she was doing, unless he was trying to come over. And that wasn't happening. Not on his watch. Andy smiled softly at him across the divider and Nick let out his breath he hadn't been aware he was holding slowly. "Broke a lamp." She said with a grin, and Nick could see her dirty little mind going back over _exactly _how that lamp had ended up broken. "I gotta go, Swarek." _Swarek_. Nick liked that. Not Sam. Sam was too personal. The last name placed more distance on the relationship, especially with an ex. "See ya tomorrow." She dropped her phone back into her purse. She jerked her thumb at the lamp over her shoulder, still not taking her eyes off of her. "You like that one?"

He nodded. "It's alright."

"Good." She turned around and began walking towards the front of the store. "Get one. We're going." Nick smirked, but quickly grabbed one of the lamps underneath the display and followed behind her, knowing he was going to catch hell later for not saying something sooner. And knowing that he was going to enjoy every single second of it.

There was a slight tussle at the checkout counter. Andy pulled out her wallet and Nick held out his arm, effectively barricading her. She tried to duck underneath it, to swipe her card through the reader, but Nick twisted his body to block her from getting anywhere near it. It was difficult to pull his wallet out of his jacket pocket while holding Andy back though, much to the amusement of the cashier. She was a woman in her mid fifties and she was quote 'absolutely delighted to see a young couple such as yourselves so enamored with each other as to argue over who would pay for a lamp.'

"Nick! This is ridiculous. It's my lamp. I broke it." Andy muttered. By the end, Nick had his hand on Andy's forehead to hold her back, his body covering the card reader and he had to hand the cashier his card to have her swipe it, so Andy couldn't swipe hers through the reader before the cashier could manually swipe his.

"If it weren't for me, it wouldn't have ever gotten broken." Nick countered with a smirk. Andy raised her eyebrows.

"Oh. Aren't you something?" She mocked, as the cashier handed him the receipt.

"Thank you," Nick glanced at her name badge, "_Cathy_. You have a lovely night. You've been very helpful." He smiled his most charming smile. Cathy blushed and smiled at Andy.

"Ohhh, you're a lucky, lucky girl." She told Andy, waving her hands at Nick. "You hold onto him tight, sweetheart." Nick grinned.

"_Thank_ you. I keep telling her that. She just doesn't believe me!" He teased, pulling Andy into a side hug and kissing her neck. Andy pushed away from him, snatched the receipt out of his hand.

"Please stop encouraging him." Andy replied. "It makes him absolutely unbearable." Nick turned and gave Andy one of his sweet smiles, one she never could resist. The corner of her mouth tipped.

"_There_ it is." He leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. "I knew one was in there somewhere."

"You're still going to pay." She whispered.

He nodded, leaned his forehead against hers. "Oh, I'm looking forward to it."

Andy snorted. "Figures." Her smile was unmistakable. "Me too." She whispered.

Cathy sighed behind them, and Nick grinned. He grabbed Andy's new lamp and led the way out of the store.

They stopped for dinner at a burrito place. Nick spotted it first and pulled in immediately. He didn't even ask. After parking the truck, he turned to look at Andy and loved the smirk on her face. "Really?" She laughed.

"What? You want something different?"

She shook her head, unbuckled her seat belt. Reaching across the center console she cupped his cheek and brought his face close to hers. "No." After placing a soft kiss on his lips that definitely left him wanting more she pulled away and slid out of his truck. "C'mon Collins! Burritos await me!"

He chuckled and locked the truck quickly behind him as she waited for him on the sidewalk. He threw his arm around her shoulders and led the way.

One big burrito, unlimited chips and salsa and at least three beers for her later she'd lost that look in her eyes. The one Nick attributed to yesterday and to the Swarek phone call.

"Oh, God. I'm going to regret all this tomorrow." She moaned as she rubbed her stomach, leaning back in the booth. Nick grinned at her and took another sip of his water. He wasn't drinking tonight. He could have. One wouldn't hurt. But he wanted to make sure that tonight was about her. "Why did you bring me here, Nick? "

"You love burritos." Nick grinned. And he'd always loved to watch her eat. Andy could put away some food. He'd always liked that about her. Most women were afraid to eat in front of men. Not McNally. She'd scarf down food like a grown male. He wasn't sure where she put it, but he loved that she wasn't shy about it.

"I'm going to have to run a 10k tomorrow." She crossed her arms on the table and laid her head down on them after the server took her plate away.

"Or we could just have marathon sex." Nick smirked.

Andy's head lifted. She raised an eyebrow at him. "So _that's_ what this is about. Buying me a new lamp, taking me out for burritos. You're buttering me up for more sex."

Nick raised his hands in defense. "I like spending time with you, McNally. And I'll run 10k with you if you want to do that too, you know that." He shrugged a shoulder, winked. "I also think we both know that I don't need to butter you up for more sex. Your will power…"He dropped off and shook his hand back and forth to indicate her iffyness. He crossed his arms, leaned back in the booth. The widening of her eyes indicating the impending storm made him grin like a fool. God, he loved messing with her. "And marathon sex is just more fun than a 10k." She frowned and threw a chip at him. He laughed as he dodged it. "Your aim sucks, McNally. Maybe we need to hit the range too. Recertification isn't that far away, you know."

"Oh!" She took high offense to that. Her shooting skills were a somewhat sensitive topic. Her father was a legend at the range. And so was Andy. He knew all of this. It had been a long discussion they'd had on one of their many days-long stakeouts undercover. She'd even bragged about being the only rookie to recertify the first try their first year as rookies. So he _knew_ it would rile her up. But Nick's whole plan was to keep her mind off of other things tonight. And so far he'd been successful. He intended to stay that way. Nick bit his lip as he saw the indignation rise in her eyes. "Now you're mocking my aim?" She pulled the bowl of chips to her side of the table and Nick instantly reached for it, knowing that this wouldn't turn out good. He held up his hand for the check and Andy laughed out loud as their server rushed over knowing that something was brewing. "I'll have you know I was range champion when I was….."

"Ten." He finished for her as he handed his card to the waiter watching her eyes go wide. "You forget McNally. I know all these things."

"That's right buster." She said, leaning forward, pointing a chip at him. "And my aim has only improved."

He grinned. "I sense a challenge coming."

She made a face. "I'll think of something." He reached over and snatched the chip out of her hand, popped it into his mouth. She snarled at him.

"Oh, I'm sure you will." He laughed.

* * *

Andy slid out of Nick's truck laughing at some stupid joke Chloe had told him when she spotted Traci walking out of her building. "Hey Trace." She said as Nick came around the back, her new lamp tucked under his arm. "What's up? What are you doing here?" The look on Traci's face immediately made Andy regret that last part. She'd been a really horrible friend to Traci lately. She couldn't remember the last time they'd hung out. God, they were cruising up on the anniversary of Jerry's death. Andy put her hand up to her forehead. Shit.

Traci snuck a glance at Nick and gave Andy a suspicious look. Andy could feel Nick's eyes on her too. He stepped up behind her. "Traci, how's it going?"

"Hey, Nick." She answered, giving him a brief smile. "I just dropped Leo off at his dad's. Figured I'd swing by, see how you were doing." Traci arched an eyebrow. "Didn't know if I called, if you'd answer."

Andy sucked in a breath through her teeth, felt like she'd been kicked in the stomach. Of course she would have answered. Had she really been that neglectful? Traci had been off doing her detective thing and Andy had been…elsewhere. Shit. Again. "I'm sorry, Trace. I didn't…of course I would have answered…" A flush spread over her cheeks and Nick placed his hand on her back.

"I'm just going to go put this inside, McNally." He said, holding up her lamp. "Then I'll head home. Let you ladies catch up. Early shift tomorrow and all." He turned his back so only Andy could see him and gave her a reassuring smile and a wink. Andy blushed harder, which she didn't know was possible.

"What is _that_?" Traci asked.

"A lamp." Andy responded, though that was definitely not was Traci was referring to. She heard Nick laughing as he walked into the building and she made a mental note that the next time she got him alone she was going to punch him in the kidney. "Want to go inside? It's kind of nippy out here?" Andy said, watching her breath form little white clouds. "I can make some tea or hot cocoa." She offered. Traci nodded, though she continued to look at Andy strangely and Andy sighed as she led the way.

"He has a key?" Traci asked rather suspiciously.

Damnit. She hadn't thought of that. "Uh, yeah. I gave him one when we were undercover," Andy admitted. "In case something happened."

"Oh." Traci said softly. "You didn't get it back?"

Andy shook her head, not really wanting to explain any further. She hadn't ever felt the need to ask for it back. And now? Well, he might as well keep it.

As they were making their way out of the elevator, Nick was stepping out of the apartment. Andy felt a smile spread over her face without even thinking about it. It was just natural. Nick smiled back at her. He pointed over his shoulder at the door behind him. "I set it on the floor. Try not to knock this one over, okay McNally?"

She scrunched up her face at him, just barely managing to resist sticking her tongue out when she remembered that Traci was watching. She wanted to say something so bad, but she bit her tongue and Traci glanced between the two of them. She held out her hand for Andy's keys. "I'll just be inside. Give the two of you a minute."

"Night Nash." Nick gave her a small wave.

"Night Collins." The door shut behind Traci with a soft click.

"She knows." Andy whispered.

"She _is _a detective." He whispered back with a grin. He reached out and brushed a strand of hair over her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow?" Andy crossed her arms over her chest, leaned against the wall. It was a subtle move closer to him. He noticed. Nick never missed a thing. The corner of her mouth lifted in a smirk.

"I guess you will, Collins."

His smile spread. "Think you can sweet talk Oliver into removing your self-imposed ban on the Collins/McNally squad pairing?"

Hell. He knew? Of course he did. Nick knew everything. She blushed. "After yesterday?" She asked softly. She heard him cuss under his breath. She frowned. She didn't really know what that was about, but she wasn't going to ask. "You think he'll let us ride together after yesterday?"

"Maybe not tomorrow." He admitted, seemingly over his little slip up from a second ago. "But eventually I'd like my partner back."

She nodded. "I'd like that too."

"We make a good team." He told her.

"Yeah." She watched his eyes. His ever expressive eyes. There was a light there that hadn't been there a second ago, they were brighter, happier. She cocked her head at him. "Yeah, we do."

"Call me later?" He asked, and his voice was deeper, sexier. Andy shivered at the things the tone implied. And if she hadn't been such a shitty friend lately she'd boot Traci out and knock over a few other things in her apartment on her way to the bedroom as she dragged Nick to their final destination. _If _they made it that far. But she couldn't. Because she _had _been such a shitty friend to Traci lately.

"After Detective Nash leaves." Andy whispered with a grin, looking past him at her closed apartment door. He nodded, and leaned in for a quick kiss on the cheek. Andy gripped the edges of his jacket and made a sound deep in her throat that they both knew meant she wasn't satisfied with his goodbye. But Traci could be watching.

"Have fun with the third degree." He disentangled her hands from his jacket, and squeezed them gently before letting them go and walking away. She watched him for a moment before turning, taking a deep breath and stepping into her apartment.

"Peck keeps calling me." Traci announced as soon as she shut the door.

"What?" Andy asked as Traci began to pace. It threw Andy completely off balance. Gail was calling Tracy? About what? What did that mean? Did she know about her and Nick? How could she? It had _just_ happened? Did she suspect?

"Trace, slow down." Andy said, holding up her hand. "You're wearing a line into my carpet."

"I can't keep…."

"Can't keep what?"

"Ignoring it!" Ignoring what? What did she know?  
"Ignoring what, Traci? You're speaking in circles! I can't keep up!" Andy told her.

"Peck and I have been spending a lot of time together." She said in a rush. Andy's eyes widened.

"Oh." That made sense. She knew Gail and Traci had grown close when she had left for her undercover op. It had left the two of them with Dov and Chris. And while she wouldn't trade her undercover experience with Nick for anything in the world, she regretted that she had left Traci just months after Jerry's death. "Well, to be honest I'm not going to ask you to…"

Traci stopped and turned to face her. "What?" She held up her hand. "You don't have anything to do with it."

She didn't? "I don't?"

Traci shook her head; put her hands on her hips. "No." She dropped into the chair across from the couch. She stared at Andy for a solid minute. "What's going on with you Andrea McNally?"

Oh wow. She was breaking out the full name? Andy scrambled to backtrack. "Nothing. You're just hyped up. What's going on with Gail?"

Traci blinked. Shook her head. "Gail? Who said anything about Gail?"

"You did. Peck. You said Peck."

"Yeah. Steve. Steve Peck. Why did you think I was talking about Gail?"

Andy closed her eyes. She had to stop freaking out. She needed to talk to Gail. And soon. She had to talk to her about Nick. She didn't want to keep this thing with him a secret. And it was quickly becoming a thing. Spending the day with him today had confirmed that. They'd spent the day together before, but never the way they did today. And she'd enjoyed it immensely. But she didn't want to hide it, him or _them_ from their friends. She opened her eyes to find Traci staring at her. Again. "What is going on with you?"

"Nothing." Andy repeated as she frowned.

"You're a horrible liar, Andy."

Andy turned, and pulled her new lamp closer to her. She grabbed her keys off of the coffee table and used her house key to cut open the tape holding the box closed. Maybe if she appeared occupied with something else… "So what's the deal with the much more likeable, slightly less obnoxious Peck?" Andy asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

Traci eyed her distrustfully. "He keeps calling me."

"You said that." Andy said, looking up from her box. "And?"

"And what do I _do_?"

Andy shrugged her shoulders, began to pry the styrofoam out. "Answer?" Traci huffed and frowned. "Do you like him?" Traci arched her eyebrow but gave a reluctant nod. "Well then, what's the problem, Traci?"

Traci sighed. "I don't know." She stood and started pacing again. She stopped almost directly in front of Andy. "Is it….is it too soon?"

Andy inhaled sharply. Too soon? Oh. _Oh. _Oh, Traci. "Trace." She whispered. "He would want you to be happy."

Traci bit her lip and Andy saw the tears that were brimming in her eyes. She sniffled. "I really like him." She nodded. Andy stood and walked the short distance to her best girl friend. She wrapped her in a hug and let her cry into her shoulder.

"It's okay to like him, Traci. Hell, _I _like him. He's funny. And he likes you. I could tell at the wedding. You were the only woman he looked at. All night." They both moved to the couch, plopped down together.

Traci nodded into her shoulder. "I know." She sniffled again, lifting her head. Andy reached over careful not to shift Traci too much to reach for the box of Tissues she kept next to the couch. Traci thanked her and dabbed under her eyes, wiped at her nose. "I'm just scared." She whispered.

"I know the feeling." Andy murmured softly.

Traci eyed her funny and Andy sighed deeply immediately regretting saying it out loud. "Just so you know," Traci said as she wiped at her eyes again, "you are _not _off the hook about you and Nick. We'll talk about it sooner or later." She sighed. "Just….not right now." She took a deep, shaky breath and snuggled into her best friend.

Andy winced; glad Traci couldn't see her face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Traci laughed through her tears. "Liar. You're a shitty liar McNally. Always have been. Do you have wine? I need wine. And lots of it. And a stupid, sentimental, love story." Andy nodded. She could do that.

A sappy movie, and a bottle and a half of dry red wine later Traci was passed out on Andy's couch, her head half in Andy's lap. Andy carefully slid out from underneath her, replacing her lap with a pillow under Traci's head. She pulled a throw off of the back of her couch and tugged it over her before cutting off the TV. After turning off her new lamp with a wry smile she headed into her bedroom. She shut her door with a soft 'snick' and made sure to set her alarm for early enough to wake Traci up.

She quickly shed her clothes, pulled on some pajama shorts and a tank and crawled into bed. Cell phone in hand she snuggled into her sheets, loving the fact that her pillow smelled like Nick. The smile on her face was ridiculously giddy and she was absurdly thankful that Nick wasn't there to see it; otherwise she'd never live it down. She unlocked her phone, quickly hitting the favorites contact list and grinning bigger when she saw that his name had moved higher up the list. She laughed. Smart phones. It was stupid, her phone didn't _really_ know that their relationship had changed, but it knew that they had been calling and texting more, thus bumping him up the list. She looked at the goofy picture he had taken of himself recently when she had stepped away to use the restroom at the Penny, stupidly leaving her cell phone on the bar. She was lucky that was all he'd done.

And then several days later he'd stealthily stolen it from her cruiser while she was in booking and changed his personalized ringtone to 'Stuck in the Middle with You' too. The first time he'd called, a half hour later to brag on his accomplishment, she'd and Dov had been on lunch break and she'd had no idea whose phone was ringing until Dov had poked her shoulder. 'I think that's you', he'd said. Once she'd realized what Nick had done, and what song he'd chosen and that it had been one of the _many _songs he'd sung non-_stop _while they'd been undercover, she'd couldn't control her laughter long enough to answer the phone. When he'd called back a few minutes later, it had started her laughter all over again. Dov had to answer for her and tell Nick that Andy would call him back in a few minutes.

She pressed his picture to dial him and it rang a few times. She was ready to hang up when he answered sleepily. "Hey."

"Oh. I wouldn't have called if I knew you were sleeping." Andy said softly. "I'll let you go. See you tomorrow."

"No." He said, sounding immediately more alert. She heard his sheets rustle and she instantly wished she was there. He made a soft, grunting nose she recognized as the one he made when he stretched sleepily. He'd make it most mornings when waking up on the couch in the apartment, stretching out on that teeny, tiny couch when it was his turn. She'd hated that he'd had to sleep on it, it was much more suited to her size but he'd insisted. "I asked you to call. I'm up."

"You're not. You're exhausted. Go back to sleep. I'll see you in Parade tomorrow."

"Well, someone kept me up last night. Didn't get much sleep." He murmured and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Oh, I remember." She whispered. "But I seem to recall it was _you _keeping me up."

"Your memory's really faulty, McNally." He chuckled lightly. "I'm going to need you to work on that. It's kind of important in our line of work."

"My memory's just fine, thanks." She retorted, and then sighed when he yawned. "Get some sleep, Collins. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"If you insist. Meet me at the park in the morning? Our usual. At 6?"

"Sure." She smiled. "I'll see you there."

"Hey."

"Yeah?" She curled into the pillow, inhaled that delicious smell, tugged the sheets up over her shoulders and closed her eyes.

"Nash give you a hard time?"

"Oh. No. She wanted to talk about Peck."

"Gail?" The horror was evident in his voice.

"Ha. No." Andy laughed. "Steve."

"Oh. Kinda saw that one coming. I've always liked him." He made a contented noise, a sigh, one that she recognized as the one he makes when he's on the verge of sleep. She'd also learned within the last twenty four hours that he made the same sigh when he nuzzles her neck after sex. And since he wasn't with her, she knew it was definitely the former. No, he was definitely curled up in his bed, half asleep. And he'd answered the phone to talk to her. She smiled goofily.

"Yeah." Andy whispered. "Hey Nick?"

"Hmm?"

"Goodnight." She murmured as she swallowed back a yawn herself.

"Night, Andy. Sweet dreams." She disconnected, slid her phone onto her night stand and fell asleep with that same goofy smile on her face.

**I was going to end this after Nick left….but I figured since I left you guys high and dry for so long…I'd give you a bit more! Hope you liked it…. (And I'm so happy for Traci…and I really like Steve!) And I hate that Traci and Andy seem distant (especially that 'dealing with the latest McNally crisis' comment)….wanted to see if I could remedy that! : )**

**Reviews are my crack. Thanks in advance for feeding my habit. And for all the follows and favorites. McCollins fans and McSwarek fans alike….you guys are AWESOME! : ) Feel free to leave your thoughts! ; ) **


	4. Chapter 4

**I knew it was going to happen. I KNEW it. I'm pretty sure Peter Mooney broke my heart! The look on Nick's face!? And when he took off his vest? I would KILL to know what he wrote on there! But he let her go…and that's true love. The thing that really gets me? Is that Andy had to put up with Marlo had to work with her and deal with Sam being 'happy' or his version of happy anyway. She dealt. But Sam… right as Andy moves on and is starting to be happy…..has to let Andy know that he's leaving b/c he couldn't be there while Andy was happy with another guy. Instead of just going… and letting her go and letting her **_**BE **_**happy and keeping his big old mouth shut. Gah….I'll shut up now.**

**(and apparently Tassie Cameron has said that even the writers are split down the middle on the epic Sam/Nick debate so who knows where Season 5 will take us!)**

**BTW, you guys are the best! Love reading your reviews and all the McCollins love and feels! Feel free to keep it up! **

**After that finale, I desperately needed to write happy Nick again. So here goes….**

Today was going to be a good day. Nick arrived early, as usual. Another habit instilled by the army. He placed his palm against the nearest tree and stretched his quads. He didn't mind getting to the park early. He liked to scope out the park, people watch. There weren't many people out at this hour though. Mostly the occasional jogger or dog walker. But it was peaceful. And probably because of his military background and now his chosen occupation he craved the peacefulness of it.

He sighed deeply inhaling the fresh air. As fresh as you could get in the heart of the city, at least. He switched sides, stretching his other leg. He felt good. Relaxed. Refreshed. He'd gotten a really good night's sleep. Honestly, he hadn't slept that good in months. Granted, he probably would have slept better had there been a certain bombshell brunette curled up next to him. He grinned. Well, maybe not.

He knew his sudden turn in fitful sleep and good mood had a lot to do with Andy. And definitely with finally getting his feelings off of his chest and out in the open. And finally getting a small glimpse into Andy's head, finding out where her heart stood as well. She had opened up to him. Well, as much as Andy McNally could. And he understood completely why she wouldn't open up fully. He knew her history, as much as she knew his. And hell, he knew all about women with tough exteriors. But Andy's exterior wasn't as tough as she made it out to be. No, she put up a good front. But Nick knew her tells. He could read her like a book.

For instance, he knew that she wasn't completely over Sam Swarek. Oh, she wanted to be. Desperately. And Nick had no problem whatsoever with being the guy who helped her over that last hurdle. As long as that last hurdle led her straight into his waiting, open arms at the finish line.

His head was down, and he was musing on how they were going to handle things around 15, until she told Gail of course. It was something he had planned on discussing with her this morning. He also planned on going back over her game plan for informing Gail of their newfound relationship or whatever Andy wanted to define this as. He wasn't going to put a label on it until Andy was ready, though she seemed to be okay with the way things were progressing so far. However, he still _really_ wasn't keen on her telling Gail by herself. He might just have to catch Gail first, give her a heads up. He was also pretty curious to see how Swarek was going to react as well. Though Andy might be blind, Nick sure as hell wasn't. He'd seen on more than one occasion the way Sam will eye her when he thinks she and no one else is looking. The person he felt bad for though is Cruz. Poor woman was stuck in the middle, hopelessly in love with a man who is still in love with someone else. Nick was frowning about the whole situation when he felt a rush of air behind him.

"Loser buys breakfast!" Andy yelled as she raced by.

Nick laughed as he caught a glimpse of her purple tank streaking by before she rounded the bend. He dashed after her, instantly on her heels. He chuckled good naturedly when she cursed under her breath as she realized how quickly he had caught up. "Feeling feisty this morning?"

She shrugged a shoulder, slowed down a little, obviously conserving her speed and energy as she fell into step beside him. He wasn't fooled. "5k? 10k?" She asked.

"Don't care." He looked up at the clouds. "Beautiful morning, beautiful girl, just enjoying the time outdoors, with you…."

She turned her head to grin at him. "Cheeseball." He grinned back and they both fell silent, focusing on their breathing and the run. They ran a good, solid 5k keeping pace together. Andy half turned to him as they rounded the turn for the final time, a mutual consensus to end it here at a 5k. It would give them both time to go home, shower and for Nick to swing by and pick Andy up for breakfast before shift. He knew without even having to turn his head to look at her that she'd been storing up her energy for this exact moment.

He experienced a brief internal debate. Let her win and watch her cross their 'finish line' and celebrate with her absolutely adorable and slightly ridiculous victory dance and let her poke fun at him all day or watch her pout and poke fun atherhimself?

With a burst of speed, she raced past him laughing somewhat hysterically as she took off. He smiled and sped up trying to make it as believable as possible as he lost by a hair. She glanced over her shoulder at him, squinting her eyes knowingly but seemingly not caring as she began her goofy victory dance in between all of her huffing and puffing. Nick bent over and braced his hands on his knees, catching his breath, trying to hold back his laughter, but ultimately smiling broadly as she finished up her dance with a loud, victorious "I win!"

Nick nodded. "So you did." His breathing finally even, he turned his wrist to look at the time. "We've still got plenty of time to grab breakfast. I'll meet you back at yours in thirty?"

She smirked. "Aw," she sidled on over to him, brought her hands up to his face and smooshed his cheeks together. "Is someone a sore loser?"

He chuckled, leaned in and rubbed his sweaty face over hers laughing as she squealed and pulled away. "Nope! Just looking forward to a shower and some quality adult conversation before I'm paired with Chloe and her useless random facts for 10 hours straight," he said as he began walking towards his truck parked a few feet away.

Andy shook her head at him, "She's not that bad."

"She's not." He acknowledged. "I like her, I do. But I can only handle her in small doses." He grinned at her. "I don't know how Dov does it!" Andy smacked his arm and Nick laughed. "What?" He brushed a quick kiss over her lips before climbing into his truck. "Want a ride?"

She shook her head. "I'm literally right around the corner."

"Okay." He said, starting up the truck and rolling the window down. She leaned in to press one last kiss against his lips. "Can't do that in the diner." He warned. "Too many coppers."

She arched an eyebrow. "I'll put out my feelers with Gail today. We'll see how it plays out."

He nodded, impressed. "Ready to get us out there in the open, McNally?" He asked, secretly thrilled.

"We're not going to be a dirty little secret, Collins." She said as she backed away. She gave a little wave and turned around, breaking into a steady jog as she headed home. His heart thrummed wildly in his chest. Admissions like that from Andy McNally were worth their weight in gold.

* * *

He was testing his radio, signing it out and clipping it to his belt when Gail walked in. "Collins," she said with a frosty bite to her tone that was all Gail, Ice Queen. Nick turned to look over his shoulder. He couldn't bring himself to snark back. Not today. Today he was feeling too good. Breakfast had been fun and lighthearted and nothing was going to bring him down today. Not even a snarky Gail.

"Good morning Gail." He replied cheerily as he snagged the keys for 1519. He'd checked the assignment board first thing before hitting the locker room even, just for shits and giggles. He'd bet Andy dinner that he was paired with Chloe again today. He had this sneaky suspicion that Oliver thought it was funny to pair the two of them together. And damned if that stupid board didn't read 1519-Collins/Price. Andy had laughed all the way to the women's locker room not caring one whit that she was stuck paying for dinner tonight or that apparently she was trapped in house today. Desk duty. They had both figured she'd be kept in the station, so neither was surprised.

Gail frowned, apparently not used to such a happy response from him or lately any response at all. She narrowed her eyes. "What's going on?" She crossed her arms. "You don't do chipper. Certainly not with me." She frowned, held out an arm. "Look! You're giving me hives."

Nick grinned, twirled the keys around his finger and clipped those to his belt too. He fought the urge to tell her, but Andy had insisted that she be the one to tell Gail and Nick had given in to her. Again. He had a feeling it could become a nasty little trend. "Just a good day, Gail. Gonna be a good day." He walked out of the room, whistling.

He hadn't really said much to her these past few weeks. Hadn't had much to say. And after the first week or so post-split, Gail had quit trying to call him. Especially once she'd realized that he wasn't willing to work it out, that he was done. He'd told Andy the truth; he hadn't been invested in his relationship with Gail for a long time. He'd forced his feelings for Andy deep down or so he'd thought since apparently Gail had seen right through him. It hadn't been fair to Gail or to himself to try and hide it. He knew that. It wasn't something he was proud of. If he could go back and change things, that would definitely be one of his do overs. His so called 'crush' on Andy had played a major part in Gail cheating on him and he knew that too. However, that didn't mean that she hadn't broken his heart when he'd found out about it. He'd still loved her; still felt a strong bond with her. A small part of him would always love Gail, but she'd been right in his truck that night when they'd broken up. Somewhere along the way and he couldn't really pinpoint where, he'd wanted to be with Andy more.

Speak of the devil, he watched her walk by. Watched her smirk at him knowingly as she moved into the Parade room. He fought to keep his face neutral. If he wasn't careful, everyone in 15 would know how he felt in a matter of minutes. Andy was right. Gail deserved to be the first to know. She was Andy's 'friend', for lack of a better word. And Nick and Andy both would have to work with her afterwards. Every day. It was a situation best dealt with delicately.

As he made his way into Parade he noticed an open seat next to Andy. He sighed and slid into the seat directly behind her. He leaned forward as he opened his notebook and scribbled the date and copied a few notes written on the board at the front of the room. Mostly mundane stuff, but he was meticulous about his notes. "Hey there, McNally." He grinned.

She turned her head just enough to see him out of the corner of her eye. He caught the smile on her face though. "Hey yourself, Collins."

"Didn't you guys come in together?" Chloe asked as she strolled by, slipping in behind Nick and occupying the seat next to him. She held up her hand for a high five. "1519!" Nick turned his head to stare at her. He held up his hand for the high five though. He was curious to see how Andy was reacting to the two of them being noticed coming in together, but they'd come in together plenty in the past. Things had changed now though. He could tell Chloe had more to say. She was squirming in her seat like an eager puppy waiting for attention. Nick blinked, refocused his attention on her. "You're driving. Is that cool? You don't mind, do you? I can never get the seat adjusted right in that squad. I swear someone broke the seat back adjuster on it. That's what it's called right? That thing on the side? I told the mechanic last time I took it in for service but he just smiled and nodded at me. He totally didn't fix it." She took a breath and waved at Dov as he walked in.

"I was planning on driving." He muttered. He preferred to actually, especially with Chloe.

Nick turned his head to look at the bewitching brunette in front of him. She was facing forward but her shoulders were shaking in silent laughter. "Nick? Nick." Chloe snapped her fingers to grab his attention again. "Can we stop at that little diner for lunch? You know that one that serves those amazing gooey fries? I've been craving those." Nick heard a snort escape the officer seated directly in front of him and he used his left foot to ever so lightly tap the chair that particular officer occupied. It rolled forward and before she could brace herself, she rolled into the table with a soft 'oomph!' Nick held back his laughter as she turned around to glare at him. "Dov doesn't really like that place, but I know you don't mind. You're easy, right?"

"He's _so _easy." Andy replied and Nick couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. He _was_. Especially when it came to smart mouthed, tough exterior, warm hearted and completely quirky, sexy brunettes named Andy.

"Oh! Andy we could _totally_ bring you something back too." Chloe nodded and Andy turned the other way to smile at her.

"Thanks Chloe. That's so sweet. But I think Traci and I are doing lunch today." Andy replied. Andy spun around in her chair, pausing to glare again at Nick as she faced forward.

"No problem!" She chirped.

Nash, Swarek and Shaw walked in together. The appearance of Oliver signaled the beginning of Parade. Swarek and Oliver walked to the front of the room speaking in hushed tones. Nash drifted over to the side where she usually stood. She stared at Nick for a moment. He gave her a friendly little wave. She pursed her lips and frowned a little, then focused her attention on the front of the room. On her partner and the acting Staff Sergeant.

"Good morning all." Oliver greeted them. "Detective Swarek here has a few things to go over. Take it away, Sammy." He stepped aside.

"Detective Nash and I are going to be heading up a task force. Operation Drift Net. We're trying to clean up the streets, take down some dealers, gets some drugs off the market. As much as we can in as little time as we can. It's going to be long hours, a weeklong op, plain clothes sting. We got a few details to iron out. Nash and I chose four officers: Peck, Epstein, Price and Collins. D's office after Parade. We'll let you know the area we're working the day of so you know to steer clear." With that, Sam nodded and stepped aside. Nick was surprised to hear his name called. And even more surprised to hear the lack of McNally's. Sam made eye contact with her and he could almost feel the curiosity and the hurt radiating off of Andy. If this was Sam and Traci's op then Andy should have been all over it. And apparently Andy thought so too.

Oliver stepped up to the podium. "Last night was calm. I hope today remains the same. At least for the sakes of all of 15's finest. That would be you good people. I have nothing of importance to report." He clapped his hands. "Well? Serve, protect and don't do anything I wouldn't do. Anything else you need to know is on the board." He jerked his thumb over the shoulder at the dry erase board behind him. "Any questions?" No one spoke up. He spread his arms out, palms up. "Then go forth my children. Be free." He began to walk out of the room tapering off as he went. "Keep safe this fine city of Toronto. Guard its good citizens and bring me its bad…" The few officers that remained behind laughed and shook their heads as they went on about their separate ways.

Nick stood and as Andy began to head for Sam, Nick reached for her elbow. "Don't."

"I just want to know why." She said as she tried to move around him.

"Then ask Nash."

"If she had anything to do with it, she would have told me last night." Andy insisted. "This is all Sam." She glared at Sam's retreating back as he made his way out of the Parade room. "He's been dying to say something to me for the last twenty four hours, Nick. I'm about to give him his chance."

"Andy…." He dropped his hand, letting her go. She was her own woman, always doing her own thing. Working things out her own way. If she didn't talk to him now, she'd just corner him later. There was nothing he or anybody else could do to prevent it.

"Don't ask me to let this go, Nick."

"I don't think it's personal." He told her. She cut her eyes at him, huffing just a bit.

"With Sam Swarek?" She asked. "Everything's personal."

With a sigh, Nick let her go. Like he had any other choice. It killed him that Swarek still had this kind of effect on her. That she still let him have this effect. But all he could do was let it play out. If he held her back too much, she would resent him. That was the last thing he wanted. He watched Andy follow Sam into the equipment room as Gail and Dov and Chloe made their way into the D's office behind Traci. He followed behind, not wanting to lag too much. He was glad to have been picked to be a part of the op. He just wished Andy had been as well. He took a seat in on the chairs opposite Nash's desk, next to Gail who was once again glaring daggers at him suspiciously. Nash handed out folders for them to peruse while they waited on Swarek. And Nick tried to quell that twinge of whatever it was he felt while he read. He wasn't a jealous guy. Had never been a jealous guy. But as time dragged on and Traci glanced at her watch and then at Nick, the twinge became an ache.

The others began to chat amongst themselves but Nick sat there, staring at the papers in front of him. He'd read them already, absorbed the information, but he wanted to appear busy. He didn't want to chat, not with the happy couple nor with the cold blonde he was seated next to.

As Nash was getting ready to go grab Sam he hurried into the office. "Sorry. Got pulled into an unexpected discussion." Swarek apologized. Nick clenched his jaw, focused on the file. "So you've perused the Op. Any questions? Nash and I can fill in the blanks."

They spent the next twenty minutes going over the Op. It would start Monday. Nick would be paired with Chloe in one Catch Car, while Dov and Gail would be in the second Catch Car. Nick rubbed the back of his neck, trying to relieve some of the tension when Gail leaned over.

"Thought this was going to be a good day, pretty boy." She snickered. Nick sighed, hating that she could still read him so accurately.

"It is." He answered.

"Then why so serious?" She asked, with a fake pout.

"You're chilly exterior is bringing me down, Gail. I just need to defrost." He said with a smile.

"Collins, Peck. Problem?" Swarek asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, glaring exclusively at Nick.

"No, sir." Nick replied, shaking his head and meeting Sam's glare.

"Nope." Peck answered, popping her 'p.'

"Good." Sam nodded. "If there are no more questions, then you're dismissed." He stood and collected the files. "Have a good day, Rooks."

Nick was the first one out of the office. Chloe was hot on his heels. "You ready?" She asked. "Eager beaver today, huh?" Nick craned his head, looking for Andy.

"Yeah. Just give me a minute." He handed the keys to Chloe. "Start it up. I'm just going to grab a cup of coffee. I'll be right out." She nodded knowingly, making her way for the Sally port.

"Uh-huh. Tell her I said bye." She said as she slipped out the door.

Nick turned his head. "What?" But she was already gone. "Shit." He laughed to himself, though he guessed they could have worse people on their team than Chloe. It was going to be a long day though if she was going to rib him about it. He guessed he'd have to perfect his poker face. He spotted Andy at the front desk. He beelined for her, knowing he really needed to get out on the road but not wanting to leave things the way they were. He swung around the corner.

"It's cool." She said as she typed up reports in the computer, not even turning to look at him.

Nick plopped down into the empty chair next to her. "I don't want to…." He began.

She finally turned to face him and he read her face quickly, watched her eyes. "I'm not mad. At him. Or at you. Look we talked. Well, I talked. He mostly listened, provided a few answers. Typical Sam fashion. I'm still not happy about it, but we're all good. Now get to work, Collins." All truths. She wasn't mad. She placed her foot on the leg of the chair he was sitting on. "You're a distraction." She kicked out, rolling his chair away.

"A distraction, huh? Can we finish discussing this tonight?" She suppressed a smile. He laughed as he stood up. If Andy said she wasn't mad, that she was all good, then things were good. He and Andy had always been honest.

"Sure. Over the dinner I'm paying for?" She asked.

Nick smirked, lowered his voice. "You honestly think I'll make you pay, McNally?"

"A bet's a bet, Collins. I lost, I'll buy."

"Fine. I'm picking the restaurant." He announced as he walked away.

"No burritos!" She said loudly. He chuckled all the way to the squad car, completely ignoring the glare coming from the D's office. He felt it, knew who it was coming from. Thing was? He didn't care. He wasn't concerned about him. He was insignificant.

Nick was feeling much better as he made his way outside. His step was much lighter. He didn't like disagreements with Andy, no matter how small.

As he reached the squad he slid into the driver's seat, adjusted the seat quickly and grinned when just like Chloe said he couldn't get it to sit just right. He put the car in reverse and began to back up. "Forget your coffee?" Chloe asked him brightly.

"Nope." Nick replied, not missing a beat. "Chugged it."

"Mmhmm." Chloe replied with a grin. "Liar." Nick turned his head to make a left out of the lot. Hoped like hell it hid his smile. Today was going to be a good day.

**Just in case you're thinking anything….NOTHING happened b/t Andy and Sam. It was completely innocent. Just a discussion. I just didn't want to switch POV's in this chapter! This is a McCollins fic and will remain a McCollins fic. There may or may not (I haven't decided yet) be a Sam confession in the future…we'll see. BUT that's all it will be. A confession. I can guaran-damn-tee that nothing will come out of it except a heartbroken Sam….should there be a confession. : ) **

**And I wasn't a big fan of Chloe for most of the season until I saw her webisode, which cracked me up…especially her voicemail rap she left for Dov (hilarious if you haven't seen it!) And she's grown on me. Plus she's a McCollins fan...and she bought Christian a new Baby Puppy! :D **

**Also, things aren't going to go **_**exactly**_** as they've gone in the show….obviously. And Nick and Andy aren't being as discreet as they probably should be…several people know something's up. : ) **

**I heart reviews. Just saying. Not as much as I heart McCollins…but still. Don't be afraid to push that button. ; ) **


	5. Chapter 5

** So…it's been a while. Sorry. =/ I hope this long chapter makes up for it!**

**I do start to veer off the path a little with this one. I don't intend to follow the whole season for the rest of this Fic….there's plenty of those out there…and I wanted to mix things up a little bit. Certain parts will be plucked out of the eps but not all…I hope you guys don't mind! ; )**

** Also…I haven't responded to any reviews for the last chapter and I am so beyond sorry. It is totally not my style. I fully intend to reply to the ones that I can very shortly. I love reading your reviews…please keep them up! You guys are awesome! Enjoy! **

Andy sighed and hung up the phone. It must be a full moon. She felt like she'd dealt with a bunch of crazies all morning. She could only imagine what the calls on patrol were like. She pushed her chair back from the desk and turned to file this latest report. Desk duty sucked. A lot. It was boring as hell. She didn't know how people did it. She needed to be out on the streets, making a difference, interacting with people. Not answering phones, filing paperwork, typing up reports, running things back and forth up to the D's office. Though thankfully that hadn't been something she'd had to do much of today.

Traci had made sure if something needed to be done for the D's office, she took care of it. The D's office had been relatively quiet today, and Traci had no open cases. So she was more than willing to help out. Andy suspected there was more to it, but she wasn't pushing. She liked the rekindled friendship thing they had going on, and she wasn't going to question Traci's motives. Not today. And she wasn't particularly trying to avoid Sam this morning but after their conversation earlier today she wasn't especially inclined to interact with him if not absolutely necessary either. She was still smarting from that look he'd given her two days ago. That one he'd given her when he'd asked why she and Nick were at the park. Yes, she'd understood why he'd asked. He'd needed to know if the trip to the park with Nick and Christian had been planned or if it had been spontaneous. But she _knew_ Sam, _knew _the way he operated. Sam hadn't been a neutral party, the neutral detective; it hadn't been a neutral look, a neutral tone. And Andy had picked up on it immediately. Maybe she'd overreacted. Maybe. But she'd just lost one of her closest friend's only kids. Of course she'd taken it personally.

And then today. Today he'd excluded her from a sting when he normally included her in practically everything he did work related. When she'd asked, he'd given her some bullshit line about how well Peck and Epstein worked together and Collins and Price too. She'd contended that she and Nick also worked just fine together. Sam had raised an eyebrow and argued that he'd seen the tension between Peck and Collins and the hostility Peck had towards Andy after Blackstone had reappeared drudging up their undercover stint. Sam had claimed he didn't need that sort of tension on a multi-day long hour sting.

Andy had been blown away. Tension? Between Gail and herself? How the hell had she missed all of this? She had thought Gail had just been going through her post breakup blues and was her normal, bitchy self. If Gail had acted any differently towards her, Andy hadn't really noticed. She may have been snippy, but hell, that was Gail Peck in a nutshell.

After remaining silent and letting her muse over that for a few minutes, Sam had asked her how she was doing. She'd shrugged and given him a small smile, told him she was good. He'd smirked, crossed his arms and leaned back against the storage shelf that held the rolls and rolls of crime scene tape. He'd stared at her, narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to get a read on her. Andy didn't budge, her smile not wavering, but after a few tense minutes it threatened to grow, to give her away. He'd just stood there, watching, waiting her out. Andy turned her wrist, glanced at her watch. "Don't you have a meeting?" She'd asked him.

"Shit." He'd scurried out of the supply room and Andy had made her way to the desk where she was stuck for the next ten hours somewhat satisfied with her answer she'd received from Sam but further plagued by new information about Gail. She needed time to process this and deal with it and then she needed to tell Gail. And she needed to tell Gail quickly. This new thing with Nick was going to be difficult to hide, especially from all of these people that knew her best. She spent too much time with them for them not to notice. She knew that. And all Nick had to do was smile at her and she'd give it away.

"Excuse me, are you Officer McNally?" Andy shook her head to clear her thoughts and then smiled brightly, and nodded.

"Sorry, yes. I'm Officer McNally." She stood and instantly recognized the young woman in front of her from her picture ID. Andy reached underneath the counter and took out the wallet that she'd been holding since earlier this morning. The woman quickly opened her wallet and closed her eyes in relief at finding the cash located in the billfold. "Oh thank you Jesus!" She sighed profoundly, clasping the wallet to her chest. "And thank _you_ Officer McNally!" She reached across the counter and embraced Andy in a huge, slightly awkward hug. Andy laughed.

"Don't thank _me._ Thank the kind citizen that wished to remain anonymous who dropped it off this morning. I was just the lucky one that got to phone you and tell you it was here." Andy grinned down at the pretty chestnut haired toddler standing next to her in her super cute flirty little dress and stockings and peacoat, holding tightly to the mother's jacket with one hand, the other was up near her mouth gnawing on two of her fingers. Andy rooted around in the drawer to her left and produced a sucker. "Hi there." She whispered. "You look like you could use one of these." The toddler popped her two fingers out of her mouth and quickly reached for the sucker.

"What do you say, Melanie?" The mother asked.

"Aank you!" Melanie grinned at Andy. Andy watched enraptured as she ripped off the wrapper quite efficiently and stuck the sucker in her mouth before her mother could even blink. It amazed her how fast the child had moved to get that little piece of candy, hoping her mother wouldn't protest and tell her no candy.

Andy crossed her arms on the counter and leaned forward. "You're so welcome, Melanie." Andy sighed and the mother took the little girls hand as Andy waved goodbye.

"Thanks again." The mother gushed. Andy nodded.

"She was adorable." Traci said, walking up behind her. Andy startled a little, lost in her own thoughts.

"She was, wasn't she?" Andy mused, resting her chin on her hand. She turned her head to look at her friend as she leaned on the counter next to her.

"I imagine your little girl will look something like that." Traci said with a soft shoulder nudge.

Andy froze, her eyes widened and she turned to look at her friend. "_What_?"

"One day," Traci said with a wicked grin, "when you have a little girl. I imagine she'll look like that." Andy rolled her eyes completely ignoring her remarks, slapped her hands down on the counter.

"Are you ready for lunch?" Andy brushed her hands over her pants, smoothing them out.

Traci nodded a twinkle in her eye. "Yup." She patted her cell phone on her hip. "Swarek's out on a call," Traci said as she picked up her coat and tucked it over her arm, "so I could get called to a scene." Andy shrugged, and pulled on her coat.

"I don't mind seeing a little action today." She swept out her hand to indicate her desk. "This gets really old after a while."

Traci nodded knowingly. "It's not a punishment," she said softly. "Oliver just wanted to make sure you were…"

"Fine?" Andy asked. She shrugged again, "Talked to Chris this morning. I'm better than he is."

"Yeah," Traci sighed as they made their way out of the station. "Dov was telling me how their talk went last night. Said how upset Chris was this morning. I think Denise is heading back today." Andy hung her head and a wave of sadness rolled through her, squeezed her heart. Traci threw her arm around Andy's shoulders. "You can't blame yourself, Andy."

"He's helped raise him for almost the past year, Trace." She whispered as they pushed out of the doors towards Traci's assigned Crown Vic. "What is he going to do?"

"He'll cope. Chris is a trooper. He's stronger than all of us know. Seems like we've all been tested since we've been here. This is his test." Andy sighed, nodding as she slid into the car and buckled up. She frowned out the window as Traci pulled out of the parking lot. "So? What do you feel like?"

"It doesn't matter. I don't care." Andy told Traci as she fiddled with the side zipper on her cargo pants.

"Cool. Chippy's sound good?"

Andy's head did the Exorcist thing, the slow motion, wide eyed turn. "What?" Andy rasped.

"Lunch." Traci laughed at Andy's reaction. "Chippy's. They have the best fries. Don't tell me you've never had their gooey fries." She frowned. "Yes, you have! You went with me the last time I ate there! It was you me and Leo! The place on Baker and State Street. Does that sound good for lunch?"

Andy narrowed her eyes, suddenly suspicious. "Why would you want to go there?"

Traci chuckled, shrugged her shoulders. "Uh, because their Chili fries are freaking amazing and it's right around the corner from my pharmacy. I need to pick up Leo's prescription refill. What is _with _you, Andy?" Andy turned to look out the window and let out a deep sigh. She rubbed her hand over her neck. To tell her _or_ not tell her? Andy's phone buzzed in her side pocket. Eternally grateful for the distraction she pulled it out and did her best to repress her smile when she saw it was a message from Nick.

**Sure you don't want anything? Breaking for lunch. Need a reprieve from this squad. Could make a run to the station. ; ) –N**

Andy gulped. They were about to break for lunch? _Awesome._ That would mean they would be there the same time as her and Traci. And Traci and Chloe would want to eat together, so the four would share a table. And Chloe was already suspicious and Traci was _so_ on to them. One of the two of them would so call them out at lunch. And Andy hadn't had a chance to talk to Gail yet! She hadn't seen her since Parade this morning. Hell.

"Hey, Trace. Didn't that new Mexican place just open up on Baker? Why don't we try it out? Go for something new today?"

Andy stared down at her phone as she hit reply to Nick's text, though she typed nothing in. She could feel Traci's eyes on her. "You had burritos last night. And I clearly heard you shout across the squad room this morning no burritos to Nick. I'm assuming you were referring to dinner. So why would you want Mexican for lunch if you don't want it for dinner?" _Shit_. Andy blew out a breath. Had she really been that loud? "I was relatively close by." Traci said with a soft laugh, reading her friends mind. "But yes, you yelled it across the room. You were loud." She turned onto Baker Street and pulled into a sandwich shop, turned off the car and Andy closed her eyes, relieved beyond belief. She let out the breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. "Spill, McNally."

"Nick and I had sex."_ Hell._ Andy slapped her hand over her mouth and turned to look over at Traci. Traci was just looking at her, the same way she'd been looking at her for the whole conversation. Not surprised. At all. Just waiting. The rest just tumbled out. "We're sleeping together. Seeing each other. Something. We haven't defined it." Andy rambled, hid her face in her hands. She wasn't embarrassed; she was relieved to have it out in the open. To somebody. "I have to tell Gail. She needs to be the first to know. Well, now you're the first to know. But I need to tell her. I feel like a horrible person for keeping this secret, but…" she paused and removed her hands and made eye contact. "I like him, Trace. I _really_ like him." She took a deep breath, continued. "He makes me happy." Andy smiled. "All the time happy. Can't stop smiling happy. And I'm sure that's just because it's new and it's a phase and it'll wear off…but what if it doesn't? That happens, doesn't it? But I deserve this, damnit. Don't I? I deserve to be happy. And Nick," Andy smiled again and turned to Traci, tried to cover her mouth. "See? I can't. I can't help it." She bit her lip.

"I've noticed." Traci said with a soft smile. "And so have some others. Not to bring you down from your little high there."

"_What?_" Andy said, her smile instantly gone. "Who others? Others who?"

Traci shook her head. "Don't worry about them. You're happy, Andy McNally. That's what matters. You'll tell Gail. Soon. You need to tell her soon." Traci was firm about this. "Before you or Nick let it slip. And between you and me, one of the two of you will let it slip soon. You're too giddy not to. The two of you are in a bubble. A happy bubble." Traci's smile widened, she leaned across the car and enveloped her friend in a hug. "And don't you let anyone burst it. I'm happy you're happy. You do deserve to be happy, Andy." She whispered. She framed Andy's face in her hands. They grinned at each other. "We _both_ deserve to be happy." Traci sighed and let go of her friend. "Now finish texting lover boy back so we can go in and eat. I'm hungry. I assume the reason we're eating here is because he's down there at Chippy's. And Price has a big mouth. He owes me big time. You can tell him that." With that, Andy picked up her phone as Traci exited the car.

**Escaped w/ Traci for lunch. Sorry. I do LOVE their sugar cookies. ; ) Suck it up Collins. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. – A**

She was standing behind Traci in line about to place her order when her phone buzzed again. She reached down to grab it.

**Enjoy. I'll see what I can do. No promises. And I'm not sure the heart can grow much fonder, McNally. –N**

_Cheeseball. _But she grinned like an idiot, blushing hard as Traci looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at her. But who was she kidding? She was eating all of his cheesiness up! With the goofiest grin still on her face she slipped her phone into her pants pocket and stepped up to the counter to order lunch.

* * *

On the way back to the station, Traci was called to a scene. After quickly radioing in to Oliver, Traci got the okay to take Andy with her, they both headed to the suburbs to the scene of a home invasion. Andy felt her heart speed up involuntarily and rolled her eyes at herself when Traci parked behind 1519. "Down girl." Traci snickered as they ducked underneath the crime scene tape and walked up the driveway.

"Shut up." Andy smirked at her friend as they moved smoothly through the crime scene. Traci flashed her badge at the uniformed officer standing at the door. He was a rookie who Andy had seen only a handful of times. Andy had seen plenty of home invasions before but this one put all the others to shame. This house was beyond trashed. Whoever had done this was obviously looking for something. And if they had found it, it had taken them a good long while to find it. They'd torn the house apart looking for it.

The owners stood in the corner of the living room in a small section that had been slightly cleared out so they could stand. They were talking to Chloe who was stoically taking notes. It was one of the only times you could ever catch Chloe serious and focused. There were several people buzzing about, crime scene techs dusting for prints, cops surrounding the house but no Nick. Andy frowned. Traci nudged her with her elbow. Voices were coming from the top of the stairs. They both looked up to see Steve and Nick walking down the stairs together. Steve was dressed in his typical long sleeve shirt, vest and dress pants. Andy had never seen him wear a tie. She didn't think. But she only focused on him for a moment as she watched the two descend the stairs heads bowed deep in conversation, Nick going over his notes with Steve.

"Did I miss something?" Traci asked, her hands on her hips. They both paused. Looking up they both sported almost identical grins on their faces, though both grins were aimed in different directions. Nick's smile was slightly more reserved than Steve's. Just slightly. Steve continued down the stairs with Nick trailing behind him.

"Known gang affiliations." Steve murmured as he got closer. "The home owner used to run with the Dowling crew." He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I'm just here to offer my excellent detective skills and superior knowledge of…" he looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching and threw up a quick gang sign, "all things gangsta." Traci closed her eyes and shook her head, pulled her lips inward to keep from smiling. Andy beamed at her friend, knowing that Traci was doing all that she could to keep from busting out laughing. Steve crossed his arms and began to give Traci a quick rundown while Nick pulled Andy aside.

"Early release for good behavior?" He asked with a wink.

Andy shrugged and reached for his notes. He handed over his notepad and stood next to her silently while she read. She'd always liked reading over Nick's notes. He was detailed, meticulous, and thorough. Chloe strolled over, flipping back and forth through the pages of her notebook.

"The wife had someone in the house for cable repairs two days ago." Chloe said, her head still down. "Wore the uniform, but wanted to look around the house so she let him, didn't fix the problem. Claimed he needed to consult with a coworker, he left. Different guy came by three hours later, fixed the problem."

Traci stepped up behind Andy and Nick. "So the first guy wasn't with the cable company."

Chloe finally lifted her head, her eyes brightened when they rested on Andy and then moved to Traci. "I'm thinking not."

"Alright. Can she identify him?" Traci asked. Chloe nodded. "Let's get a sketch artist here." Chloe walked away, pulling her cell phone off her hip to send the request in. "Did they take anything?" She posed to Nick.

Nick reached for his notebook as Andy made a move to hand it back over. He nodded as he went over the items already inventoried missing. As he finished, Traci nodded taking everything in with a critical eye. She watched the couple in the corner as they huddled together, whispering. She half turned, keeping an eye on the two of them while consulting with her fellow detective.

"Your thoughts my 'gangsta' savvy colleague?" Traci asked with a rather wry smile.

Steve grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets, rocked back on his heels. It showed off his nice shoulders and arms. And Andy would swear she hear Traci sigh. Whether it was exasperation or admiration Andy couldn't be sure. "I'd rather hear _your_ thoughts, Traci Nash."

Traci rolled her eyes. "Does this sound like the Dowling crew to you, Detective Peck?"

Steve shrugged. "Could be. I'm intrigued by this cable repair man. I'd like to see the sketch composite once it's complete." He looked pointedly at Nick. "Make sure I receive a copy?" Nick nodded. "Thanks Collins." Steve clapped him on the back as Nick jotted down a reminder to send a copy of the sketch to Peck in his notes. Steve took Traci's elbow and led her away.

Andy moved subtly closer to Nick. The corner of his mouth quirked. "You miss me, McNally?" He said, not looking up from his notebook. Before she could muster up a witty reply Chloe popped up between them.

"Sketch artist can't make it here. Oliver wants us to bring her, well _them_ to the station." Andy took a step back, kept her head down. Nick frowned as he watched her body language change. "You and Detective Nash came in a detective car, right Andy?" Chloe asked. "You want to take them?" Andy nodded and with a quick glance from underneath her lashes at Nick she slipped away to go find Traci.

Andy took a deep breath and stepped over to Traci. "The sketch artist can't leave the station." She said, interrupting her conversation with one of the forensic techs and Steve. Traci nodded.

"Alright. We can take them." She pointed at the tech. "Can you let me know if those fingerprints match anything in the database?" The tech waved his hand in dismissal as he went back to doing his job.

Steve grinned. "I want to be CC'ed on every correspondence." There was some eye-rolling from both the tech and Traci. Steve checked his phone, scrolled through some messages. "Nash, I'll contact you if I hear anything. I'm sure I can expect the same from you." He looked up from his phone and his eyes twinkled. Traci huffed and motioned for Andy to follow as she went to go collect the homeowners. She passed by Chloe on her way out the door.

"You suit each other." Chloe faux whispered with a smile. And she waltzed away, leaving Andy's mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She laughed and shook her head. Jesus. Yeah, she needed to tell Gail. And she needed to tell Gail soon.

Andy was still shaking her head when she climbed into the car. "What?" Traci asked as she backed out of the space, away from 1519. Chloe and Nick were standing at the squad, talking over the top of the car. Nick briefly glanced her way then back at Chloe.

"Nothing." Andy replied. She tipped her head towards the couple in the backseat. They were gripping hands tightly. Traci nodded.

"We'll discuss it later." Traci said quietly. Andy sighed. She had no doubt that they would.

* * *

They got nowhere with the sketch artist. The sketch didn't match any pictures they had on file for any known members of the Dowling crew. Nor could she identify the 'cable repair man' in any of the photos she was shown. The wife was placed separate from her husband in an interview room and went through notebook after notebook after notebook of photos. Nothing. No fingerprints matched anything on any database either. They were coming up at dead ends all around.

Andy had ended up back on desk duty. Traci had nothing else for her to do and when they'd arrived back at the station, Nick and Chloe had assisted Traci with the investigation since they were the first officers on the scene and had the most direct contact with the homeowners.

She was elbow deep in a stupid claims form, beyond thankful that her shift ended in only thirty more minutes when a shadow fell over her chair. "I heard you're looking for me." Andy froze and turned to see Gail standing behind her.

Blowing out a deep breath, Andy frowned. They were going to do this here? In the middle of the squad room? Andy tensed, and turned her head to check and see….yep! Gail's gun was still on her hip. But Nick had said….

"Oh. I uh, yeah…but how did you?"

Gail huffed and rolled her eyes. "I'll be at the Penny after shift." She began to walk away. "You can buy me Tequila." With that she walked away and Andy exhaled. The relief that coursed through her was short lived. She was still going to have to tell her. She just wouldn't be armed at the Penny. Maybe. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

Andy felt eyes on her from across the room. She looked up at the D's office. Traci stood in the window and gave her a wry smile. Andy narrowed her eyes at her friend. As Andy watched, Nick entered the D's office and stepped up behind Traci. He handed her a folder. She watched with interest as Traci half turned and began speaking with Nick. Nick eyes flicked over to her for a split second before focusing back on Traci. He gave Traci a crooked smile. Uh-oh. _Busted. _ He then nodded at Traci, crossed his arms seemingly listening intently before giving her one of his dazzling, charming smiles. Andy longed to be a fly on the wall. Though she knew all she had to do was ask either Nick or Traci about the conversation and she'd get a quick rundown. Sighing wearily, Andy turned back to her computer determined to finish up her report before her shift ended.

She definitely wanted to get the heck out of here. One more day and she had the weekend off. All day Saturday and Sunday. And Nick had promised her a motorcycle ride on Saturday. She was grinning as she finished up her report, completely forgetting as she hit print and slipped the papers into the appropriate file folder that she was headed to the Penny in just a little under an hour to talk to Gail. To discuss her relationship with her new…what was he? Boyfriend? Lover? Friend with benefits? _Simplify _it Andy. Her Nick. To discuss her relationship with her new _Nick_ and his ex, her friend. She blew out a tense breath. Her stomach was tied up in knots.

Andy recognized the next wave of officers coming in and was ever so thankful as she was relieved from her post. She handed over the stack of unfinished claims forms and smiled gratefully at the poor rookie who sighed dejectedly as she took over typing. Andy made her way down the hall to the women's locker room, her head down as she rehearsed and thought about what she was going to say to Gail as she walked.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Andy looked up to see Nick leaning against the wall outside the locker room, grinning down at her. He was still in uniform. She smirked.

"I'm surprised you think so low of me, Collins." Andy replied, crossing her arms. She stopped on the opposite side of the entry way.

"Quite the opposite, McNally." He said softly. "I think very highly of you."

"A penny?" She scoffed. "My thoughts are worth at least a loonie."

He nodded his head in accordance, a knowing smile spreading on his face. "Of course they are. I just wanted to see if we were on the same page." Andy rolled her eyes at him.

It suddenly hit her that she hadn't heard anything new about his case, and that he was still in uniform. A wave of panic and disappointment hit her. "You have to stay, don't you?"

He shook his head. "Nah, there's no new leads. They're going to stay in a hotel, be assigned protective custody for a day or two max. But as of right now, they've got nothing. Just because he's got old connections to the Dowling crew, doesn't mean it was the Dowling crew. There haven't been any threats. So…Price and I are free to go home. It gets turned over to the next shift. And I am free to go and enjoy my free dinner." He grinned.

Andy scrunched up her nose, looked away. "I, uh…about that…." She pushed off the wall to come towards him. His smile began to fade.

"What?" He asked. "What's wrong?"

Gail chose that inopportune moment to pop out of the locker room. "C'mon, McNally. Time's a-wasting. My drinks aren't going to buy themselves." She paused a moment to sneer at Nick, looked back at Andy for a second and then turned to leave. "Hurry up." She bitched. "I'm thirsty."

Nick let out a low chuckle as Gail walked away. Andy watched her with a grimace. "So dinner's delayed then." Andy turned on her heel to look back at him, relieved to see an amused grin and not a frown on his handsome face.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Traci apparently told her that I wanted to talk to her about something. She approached me earlier and informed me that I was buying her tequila."

Nick's grin widened mischievously. Andy narrowed her eyes. "Hey. Don't apologize. The sooner you tell Gail, the sooner I can tell Swarek." Andy's eyes grew to the size of saucers; they nearly popped out of their sockets. His booming laugh at her reaction startled several officers walking the halls. "Kidding, Andy. I'm kidding." She smacked him in the stomach. Hard. It only served to make him laugh harder.

"Are you done?" She asked with a small smile, rolling her eyes.

He sobered up, nodded. "Call me when you're finished at the Penny? Unless you want back up." He tilted his head, gave her an endearing look. "My offer still stands. We _can_ tell her together."

Andy pushed at his shoulder. "I'll be fine. I need to do this by myself." She smiled softly at him. "Thanks though."

"She's got a wicked right cross. I'm just saying." He tapped his cheek, grinned. "I speak from experience."

"I'll take that into consideration."

"If you're sure…" He dropped off when she nodded at him insistently. "Want to just come over to mine afterwards? I can order in, have it waiting on you when you get there?" He leaned in close, like he wanted to kiss her or hug her or do something of the sort but he knew better. He wouldn't. Andy leaned back, pulled away. She frowned at him and he moved back. "Or not."

"I'll call you." She said gently. "Let's see how things go with Gail." He nodded, turned to walk away. She caught the flicker of disappointment in his eyes before he did and she kicked herself for being the one to put it there. "Nick." She murmured. He looked back. "If you _really_ want to tell Sam…"

He laughed and shook his head. "I was just messing with you, McNally. I'll leave the exes to you."

"Oh, thanks!" She laughed. "I was going to say once Gail knew that you could tell whoever you wanted." He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Is that right?"

She shrugged, nodded. "You can announce it in Parade if you want to. Or," she gestured with her hand as an idea occurred to her, "you could just tell Oliver." She laughed. "That's as good as telling the whole division. And their grandmothers too!" She raised her voice a little to be heard over the constant chatter in the hall.

Nick disappeared into the men's locker room, his laughter echoing as he went. She couldn't help the smile on her face or the sigh that escaped her lips as she watched him go. She looked up as she turned to walk into the women's locker room. Right before she did, she caught the eye of Sam. He was standing in the D's office at the fax machine, staring intently at her. She didn't know how long he'd been standing there or how much of her interaction with Nick he'd seen. And honestly, she really didn't care. She stared back at him, raising her eyebrow in a 'what?' manner. He turned away and Andy sighed, rolling her eyes as she hustled into the locker room to go change. She couldn't keep Gail waiting. She needed Gail complacent. Things would go slightly better that way. Hopefully. Maybe. Hell, who was she kidding? She was just hoping to avoid a bar brawl. Andy would consider that a 'good' outcome.

She opened her locker and frowned at the small paper bag sitting atop her gym bag. What the hell was that? She didn't put that in there. She turned and looked around. Most everyone had gone home already; she had been one of the last ones in to change. She pulled the bag out suspiciously, holding it in her hand prepared for just about anything. She cautiously pulled one of the edges away from the other and peeked down inside. She did a little happy dance when she recognized the contents. The grin that overtook her face was somewhat ridiculous as she reached in and plucked out one of her three prizes in the bag. She quickly dug her phone out of her pants pocket.

**Thank you! : ) –A**

She was unbuttoning her uniform when her phone buzzed on the locker shelf. She grabbed it immediately.

**You're welcome. You can thank me properly later. ; ) –N**

Andy grinned, stuffed half of the absurdly delicious sugar cookie in her mouth and furiously typed a reply.

**I imagine you'll want a thank you for each individual one? –A**

Tugging on her jeans, she securely tucked her precious Chippy's cookies into the side of her bag and slammed her locker door as her phone buzzed again.

**The thought never crossed my mind. But now that you mention it…. –N**

Taking her phone off of vibrate, she set it in her bag. She zipped up her boots when her text message alert chimed. Geez, Nick! But she grinned nonetheless as she dug the phone out and unlocked it to check the messages.

** P.S. Get a move on, McNally. The longer you dally, the higher Peck's tab will be. –N**

_Shit._ Andy snatched up her bag, and hauled ass out of the locker room. She passed Nick in the hallway talking to Sal and a few of the others who had just started 3rd shift. She stuck her tongue out at him as she passed. He winked at her. Nobody else caught it. She didn't think. She smiled. Didn't matter anyway. In an hour or less, Gail Peck would know about her relationship with Nick and after that, it didn't matter who knew. Andy hustled towards the Black Penny. She just had to get over this hurdle of telling Gail. The hurdle that she imagined felt sort of like going over Niagara Falls in a freaking barrel.

She could do this. She was Andy freaking McNally. The Black Penny loomed ahead. She felt the knots return in her stomach. But she needed to do this. She had put herself in this position. She had kissed Nick. She had slept with Nick. She wanted to _be_ with Nick. She needed to tell Gail. She just had to go in there and get it over with. Just do it. Just rip off the band-aid. No pain, no gain. And all that other clichéd bullshit.

She stood at the door of The Black Penny, her hand on the handle. She didn't know how long she stood there. "You going to stand there all night or are you going in?"

**So I had the rough draft of this written for a while … and then I decided it needed more Nick. So I added more Nick….because who doesn't like more Nick?! ;) **

**Also…a guest reviewer asked if I chose 'Stuck in the Middle with You' on purpose since Sam somewhere at the end of Season 2 mentioned it to Andy. The answer is no…I had completely forgotten about that. So it was entirely coincidental. Whoops! ; ) **

** You guys and your reviews rock! You're averaging about 20 reviews a chapter and that's freaking amazing…I LOVE it! Keep 'em coming! **

** I don't know about y'all but I REALLY don't know how I'm going to make it to May, lol. I'm glad Fall shows are starting back up because I need something else to obsess over or I'm literally going to go crazy. **

** And…I've been to Toronto once…ten years ago…Chippy's is a real place and apparently their fries are excellent…but I have no idea if they serve gooey fries or sugar cookies. Don't hold it against me. **

**Also, a 'loonie' is the nickname for the Canadian dollar coin. ; ) **


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